Brazilian deeps continue to excite
  from: Offshore Engineer
  by: Jennifer Pallanich
  Thursday, April 03, 2008

With a raft of impressive offshore developments under way and analysts predicting that Petrobras’ Tupi field has the potential to be the largest ever deepwater oil discovery, Brazil grabbed the offshore spotlight in 2007. US editor Jennifer Pallanich reviews the fast and furious pace of deepwater drilling, development and production activity off Brazil and its Latin American neighbors.

It has been said that Petrobras’ elephant Tupi find, thought to hold an estimated 5-8 billion barrels of recoverable light oil and natural gas, could transform the outlook for Brazilian oil production. If the operator’s numbers are right, it is the largest deepwater discovery to-date. The find is in waters of 1500m to 3000m and lies 3000m to 4000m below the seabed.

Developing the subsalt Tupi field in block BM-S-11 in the Santos Basin, on the other hand, could further stretch the tight ultra-deepwater drilling equipment market, especially since other subsalt fields have had drilling problems that slowed the whole process.

In November 2007, Petrobras acknowledged a laundry list of technological challenges associated with developing and producing Tupi. On the reservoir side, issues of secondary recovery, the feasibility of water-gas injection and geomechanics of surrounding rocks with depletion all must be dealt with. In well engineering, issues to consider include deviation of wells into salt zone, hydraulic fracturing in horizontal wells and slow penetration into the reservoir. As for flow assurance, challenges include paraffin deposits in long pipes as well as hydrate and scale control. Associated gas means dealing with logistics of moving gas though an 18in pipe in 2200m of water to shore 300km away. Petrobras says the challenges set up a scenario for new offshore technologies, such as LNG, CNG, GTL, and GTW. Regarding FPUs, Petrobras mentioned the challenges of mooring in 2200m, platform access to wells and interaction with the riser system. A final challenge, Petrobras noted, includes subsea engineering of risers in 2200m and contending with issues like CO2 and high pressure.

Operator Petrobras holds 65% interest, BG 25% and Galp 10% in Tupi. The find generated excitement about Brazil’s deepwater, which typically holds heavier crudes that are more costly to refine. Shortly after Petrobras released its Tupi reserves figures, Brazil’s Agencia Nacional do Petroleo (ANP) withdrew 41 blocks from Brazil Round Nine. All the withdrawn blocks were considered high potential areas in the Campos, Espirito Santo and Santos basins. When bids were opened, OGX grabbed seven of the ten offshore high bids, Petrobras had two bids in the top ten, and Maersk snuck in with one top ten high bid.

2007 also saw Petrobras bring five platforms onstream in Brazil’s deep waters: FPSO Cidade do Rio de Janeiro in the Espadarte field, FPSO Piranema in the Piranema field, FPSO Cidade de Vitória in the Golfinho field, and P-52 and P-54, both in the Roncador field.

Espadarte, onstream since 2000, saw last year bring it the Cidade do Rio de Janeiro FPSO, where production began in January 2007. The Espadarte Phase II – RJS-409 well area in the Campos Basin includes five producing wells and four injectors. The Cidade do Rio de Janeiro vessel-platform can lift up to 100,000b/d and 2.5mmcf/d. Installed at a water depth of 1350m, the platform contracted from Modec International can store 1.6 million barrels of oil.

In 4Q 2007, Petrobras brought online its Piranema field, 25km off the coast of Sergipe in deep northeastern Brazil waters, producing to a circular FPSO chartered from Sevan Production. Piranema oil, at 44°API, is the lightest oil produced in Brazil’s deepwater regions. Petrobras estimates it will produce 30,000b/d in 2008. Chartered for 11 years, the FPSO is initially anchored in the northern portion of the field in 1090m of water and connected to six wells. During the second phase, it will move to the southern area of the same field to be connected to three other wells. There, it will be moored in 1560m of water.

Petrobras also kicked off production with the Cidade de Vitória FPSO in the Golfinho field. Petrobras’ Cidade de Vitória FPSO brought Module 2 of the development of the Golfinho field online in the Espírito Santo Sea. The vessel is anchored in 1386m of water and connected to four oil-producing wells, two gas producers and three water injectors. Peak production, expected in the first half of 2008, is projected to top-out at 200,000b/d. Module 1 went online with FPSO Capixaba in May 2006.

Petrobras’ Roncador field in the Campos Basin saw the P-52 and P-54 platforms both go onstream at the end of 2007, both designed to produce 180,000b/d at peak. Production at the P-52 is expected to peak in the second half of 2008. In full operation, the P-52 semisubmersible-type unit will be interconnected to 18 producer wells and 11 water injectors. The field is in 1800m of water. The P-54 FPSO has a capacity to compress 6mmcm/d of gas and storage for up to 2 million barrels of oil. The P-54 is moored in 1400m of water, and connected to 11 oil and gas producers and six water injectors. The new platform is also expected to reach peak in the second half of 2008.

The year 2008 should see plenty more activity off Brazil as Petrobras works to bring five deepwater structures onstream: P-51, P-53, FPSO Cidade de Niterói, FPSO Cidade de Rio das Ostras and FPSO Cidade de São Mateus.

The P-51 platform is planned to produce 180,000b/d of oil and 6mmcm/d from the Marlim Sul field in the Campos Basin. The Marlim Leste field in the Campos Basin is scheduled to see both the P-53 and the FPSO Cidade de Niterói. The P-53 will have a capacity of 180,000b/d and 6mmcm/d, while the FPSO Cidade de Niterói is designed for 100,000b/d and 3.5mmcm/d. The FPSO Cidade de Rio das Ostras will be a test production platform with a capacity of 15,000b/d of heavy 14°API oil in the Badejo field in the Campos Basin. The FPSO Cidade de São Mateus will have a capacity of 25,000b/d and 10mmcm/d to produce the Camarupim field in the Espírito Santo Basin.

Additionally, Petrobras is investing $1.25 billion in platform construction, including: the P-51 and P-56 for Marlim Sul in the Campos Basin, P-53 for Marlim Leste in the Campos Basin, and P-57 for the Jubarte field in the Campos Basin, and the fixed PMXL-1 platform for operations in the Mexilhão field in the Santos Basin. Petrobras is a partner in the Chevron-operated Frade field and the Shell-operated BC-10 field, so it will contribute to the Frade and Conchas FPSOs for those developments as well.

The Chevron-operated Frade field lies in 3700ft of water in the Campos Basin. Production is expected in early 2009 with estimated peak production of 85,000b/d of heavy oil and 30mmcf/d of natural gas anticipated in 2011.

The wells will be individually tied back to the Frade FPSO.

The Shell-operated BC-10 field, which includes the Abalone, Argonauta, Nautilus and Ostra finds, will be the first full field development based on subsea oil and gas separation and pumping. The supermajor refers to the BC-10 complex as Parque das Conchas (Portuguese for Shell Park). The field will produce to the Conchas FPSO. First oil from the first phase is anticipated by the turn of the decade. OE

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