This paper describes the CLOV deepwater megaproject in Block 17 offshore Angola. This major development encompasses four separate oil and gas accumulations in waters up to 1400 m and aims to recover 505 million bbl of both light and heavier oil plus associated gas in quantity sufficient to require an export solution to shore for inclusion in the Angola liquefied-natural-gas (LNG) project.

The CLOV megaproject of USD 8.4 billion (to first oil) in Block 17 offshore Angola is the fourth in a series of deepwater developments. The cluster of fields that gives the megaproject its name—Cravo, Lirio, Orquidea, and Violeta—is 140 km off the coast of Angola and is west/northwest from the earlier developments at Girassol, Dalia, and Pazflor in waters ranging in depth from 1100 to 1400 m. CLOV came on stream on 12 June 2014 and reached its production plateau 3 months later.

The four fields have recoverable reserves expected to be produced over a 20-year period. The oil is a mixture of good-quality light Oligocene crude (75% of recoverable reserves) and lower-quality Miocene crude. The presence of the latter has had a material effect on the development scenario for the complex.