French energy group Total said on Friday that it had started production at the Kaombo project, which is currently the biggest, deep offshore development in Angola.

Kaombo Norte, the first 'Floating Production Storage and Offloading' (FPSO) unit, was successfully brought on stream and will produce an estimated 115,000 barrels of oil per day, while the second one - Kaombo Sul - is set to start up next year, said Total.

The overall production will reach an estimated 230,000 barrels of oil per day at peak and the associated gas will be exported to the Angola LNG plant.

"The Kaombo start up is a great milestone for Total. Developing the estimated 650 million barrels of reserves will contribute to the group’s growing production and cashflow in Africa," said Arnaud Breuillac, President Exploration & Production at Total.

Alongside Total, other companies that have invested in Kaombo's Block 32 are Sonangol, Esso and Galp Energia.

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta