Subsea Equipment CAPEX Forecast to Increase in Brazil

Subsea system equipment manufacturers in all levels, from subsea trees to the smallest subsystem manufacturers, have a good reason to be happy with present and future business prospects in Brazil.

Not only are the deepwater pre-salt plays being developed and other propective deepwater plays being drilled, but also various new post-salt shallow water fields have been recently discovered, most in the southern Campos Basin by OG X Petroleo and more recently by Petrobras, which has confirmed the potencial of its play adjacent to the Pampo field.

PB will most probably be using subsea system to connect this and other probable discoveries in the area to infrastructure already operational in the Pampo and/or Bicudo Field, instead of using rigs for the task, which takes more time and increases costs.

OG X Petroleo is also looking at intensive use of subsea systems for the many plays it has been developing in their high potencial shallow water concession area in the southern Campos Basin, where OG X has made over eight proven discoveries in the last year.

Every pointer indicates to the increase in subsea systems use and a decrease in use of rigs/FPSO in shallow water plays, including mature shallow water fields, where depending on distances and seabed topography, some rigs will be released and subsea systems will interconnect various wells to one rig or FPSO, therefore decreasing OPEX.

Petrobras has completed the drilling of exploratory well 4-PM-53 nestled in shallow waters (200 meters) in the post-salt area of the Campos Basin. The well afforded the discovery of a new producer area adjacent to the Pampo Field, six kilometers away from PPM-1 (the Pampo Platform).

The recoverable volume is estimated at 25 million barrels of 20 degree API oil. Due to the excellent porosity, permeability and to the thickness of the reservoir, it is estimated the oil well’s flow will be approximately 3,000 barrels per day. This discovery opens an important exploratory front to the east of the Pampo and Bicudo concessions.

Since there is already production infrastructure installed at the site, the well will go on stream later on this year. The possibility of interconnecting it to the PPM-1 or to platform P-7, which is producing in the Bicudo field, is under analysis.

This discovery is the outcome of the exploratory strategy of intensifying work in areas that neighbor fields already in production aiming to take advantage of the capacity of the existing facilities, to reduce production costs, and to speed up the production of new volumes of oil. The Company intends do drill further wells in the region.

 

Claudio Paschoa

Photo courtesy of Petrobras