Marine Technology Reporter Blogs - petrobras

Devon Energy has informed ANP (Brazil´s National Petroleum Agency), that it has discovered indications of hydrocarbons in block CM-471 at the Campos Basin. This block is operated by Devon in a 50%/50% partnership with Brazil´s national operator Petrobras.Block CM-471 was acquired by Devon and Petrobras back in 2005, during ANP´S 7 round of bidding along with block C-M-473, both making part of block BM-C-34. Earlier this year Devon had disclosed the existence of potential O&G reservoirs in the adjacent block BM-C-32. Devon plans to extend the drilling in both blocks down to the pre-salt depths. Well 6DEV18PRJS in block CM-471 is located at a depth of 2,484 meters, being one of the deepest of the deepwater wells in Brazil.

Petrobras has announced it will start producing today the first oil from the pre-salt layer of the Baleia Franca Field, which is located about 85 km from the city of Anchieta (state of Espírito Santo), in the Parque das Baleias area.The Baleia Franca Field´s pre-salt accumulations were discovered in December 2008. The Production will start through the connection of well 6-BFR-1-ESS to the FPSO Capixaba, chartered to Petrobras by SBM and previously operated in the Golfinho Field. Aiming to anticipate the production at the Cachalote and Baleia Franca fields, the platform was moved to Parque das Baleias, after some changes in its process plant. The Baleia Franca pre-salt well will start producing approximately 13,000 bpd of light oil, estimated at 29º API.

FMC will deliver subsea manifolds and another range of subsea equipment to Petrobras. FMC Technologies has signed a four-year subsea manifold frame agreement with Petrobras. The award is expected to result in approximately $300 million in revenue to FMC Technologies if all of the subsea equipment included in the agreement is ordered. The agreement provides assurance that a minimum of 75 percent of the contracted equipment will be ordered during the contract's four-year call-off period. FMC's scope of supply includes the manufacture of up to eight subsea manifolds with subsea multiplex control systems. All equipment will be engineered and manufactured at FMC's facility in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in 2012.

The recent discovery of hydrocarbon accumulations under the Albacora Leste field´s pre-salt layer confirms there potential of the Campos Basin to be a significant pre-salt producer.The recent oil discoveries in pre-salt layers under certain Petrobras concession areas in the Campos Basin are already being considered significant and tend to offer the possibility of production start-up in a much shorter time frame than the major pre-salt discoveries in the Santos Basin. This is due to the fact that the fields under which these new discoveries are located already have production infrastructure in place and whatever new subsea wellheads are installed will only need to be connected to one of the FPSOs, FSOs or rigs already in place.

This new technical cooperation agreement between Petrobras and CGGVeritas highlights the importance of geophysical studies to the future of O&G exploration in Brazil.CGGVeritas  has announced that it has signed a Technology Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the Brazilian O&G player, Petrobras, for the collaborative development and implementation of new technologies in Geophysics. The TCA sets the framework for collaborative research projects between Petrobras and CGGVeritas over a three-year time period in specific areas such as 4D seismic processing, imaging and reservoir geophysics. These research projects will be conducted at a recently opened CGGVeritas Technology Center in Rio de Janeiro.

This cost isn´t only in equipment and manpower, it´s in lives, human and animal and destroyed ecosystems which will take at least a decade to recuperate. Safety must always come first. Even with the most reliable equipment and redundancy, there will always be the human factor. Nothing like a full on environmental tragedy to make for a vital attitude change: Safety first, and then all the profit scene. We all know now, that there is no infallible safety measure, well not man proof anyway. Pressure seems to be a wee bit of a problem too. Like the old saying goes: You only knows, when it blows! Well now we know, don´t we? This is the worst case scenario and it could not be correctly simulated.

This new pre-salt discovery in the Campos Basin, highlights the potential for new discoveries in both the pre and post salt layers of this mature basin, which up to now has been the main O&G producer in Brazil and until recently was considered by many as not having much more to give in terms of new reservoirs.Petrobras announced the discovery of a new accumulation of light oil (29o API) in the pre-salt layer of the Campos Basin, in water depths of 648 meters at the Marlim field. Marlim is located in the north-eastern part of Campos Basin, in water depths ranging from 648m to 1,050m. It has some 102 production wells and 50 injection wells. Over 80km of rigid pipelines and 400km of flexible lines have been laid on the field.

The new discovery in the Caratinga field along with the possible confirmation of of the extension to the Barracuda field, raise expectations for the existence of an extensive pre-salt system in the Campos Basin.Petrobras has announced the discovery of two new light oil accumulations (29o API) in reservoirs in the Campos Basin's post- and pre-salt areas, by means of the drilling of well 6-CRT-43-RJS, known as Carimbé. The discovery was made by means of the drilling of well 6-CRT-43-RJS, known as Carimbé, located in Caratinga Field, about 106 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, at a water depth of 1,027 meters. The accumulation discovered in the post-salt reservoirs is nestled 3,950 meters under the seabed.

Sperry Drilling is a Halliburton brand which has a long history in the O&G drilling market and is an acknowledged global leader in groundbreaking technologies, such as MWD/LWD, multilateral drilling, and real-time applications.Sperry Drilling is leading the industry in drilling wells faster, safer and more accurately. They optimize drilling efficiency through increasing rate of penetration and lowering non-productive time. They place wells precisely to maximize reservoir drainage, real-time operations are core to deliver, from remotely operating rigs to consultant solutions. For more than 75 years, Sperry Drilling has been delivering high-quality drilling and geological services critical to safe and efficient drilling operations.

Although not considered a major challenge by Petrobras, drilling two thousand meters below the water line, through about three thousand meters of sediments, and through two thousand meters of salt is done at the frontiers of technology.Drilling at a depth of two thousand meters is not a problem. Petrobras already has several wells at this depth, in Brazil and in the Gulf of Mexico, and produces at 1,886 meters in the Campos Basin, a mark that was once the world record (Shell currently holds the record, at more than two thousand meters from the water line in the Gulf of Mexico). The biggest challenge is the layer of salt, which, under high pressure and at high temperatures…

The Sevan Driller is a one of a kind deepwater and harsh environment driller which has arrived in Brazil and is preparing to start operations for Petrobras in the Campos Basin.Sevan Marine has developed a cylinder shaped floater, suitable for all offshore environments, using their own proprietary technology. Presently, Sevan Marine has four FPSO contracts, including the Goliat Sevan 1000 FPSO, and three drilling contracts with clients. One of their cylindrical FPSOs, the Sevan Piranema is already in operations in Brazil for Petrobras on an 11 year fixed contract with 6 x 1 year options  + 5 x 1 year mutually agreed . The FPSO Sevan Piranema has performed with consistently high production uptime levels since its start up in October 2007.

This new ANP discovery is the 2nd largest pre-salt discovery to date in Brazil and highlights the excellent potential of the Brazilian pre-salt.The ultra deepwater well (2-ANP-1-RJS ) was drilled at an area which has been named Franco, it lies 2.189 meters deep and the 4,5 billion barrels of light oil are of around 30º API. The well is located 195km from Rio de Janeiro and 41 km from the Iara pre-salt field, which has a recoverable oil potential of 3 to 4 billion barrels. Both are located at the Santos Basin. The Tupi field, also at the Santos Basin is still the largest discovery to date in Brazil, will a recoverable oil potential of 5 to 8 billion barrels.

New discovery at the Tupi field confirms Tupi potential and another new discovery in an ANP block, to be included in onerous concession contract with Petrobras.In early April 2010 Petrobras Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. announced that it finalized the drilling of another well in the Tupi field which confirms the potential of the pre-salt reservoirs in that field. The new well, 3-BRSA-795-RJS (3-RJS-666), and informally known as Tupi OW, is located in the area of the Tupi Evaluation Plan, at a depth of 2,131 meters, nearly 270 km of the coast of Rio de Janeiro, and 12.5 km northeast of the discovery well, 1-RJS-628 (1-BRSA-369), known as Tupi.

The Petrobras oil-water subsea separator pilot project includes the qualification test, design and construction of a prototype to be installed in the Marlim Field, at the Campos Basin.During the OTC 2010 in Houston, Petrobras unveiled its subsea oil-water separation, which is being developed by FMC Technologies. This system will push the limits of the subsea three-phase separation envelope to deep waters and heavy oil. Petrobras and FMC are performing an extensive qualification test program for the key components of the separation unit. The increasing produced water rate, its respective treatment costs and limited processing capacity at the existing platforms are the main drivers for Petrobras to move towards a subsea three-phase separation and reinjection system.

A look at how DP systems work and their importance to ships, vessels and rigs working on offshore O&G operations. The main contribution Kongsberg has made to the offshore O&G industry was by developing DP systems for diving support vessels in the 1970s. This significantly increased the efficiency and safety of diving operations. Since then, the offshore and maritime industries have benefited from the advances made to their DP systems. In more recent years these advances have been applied to the cruise industry with dynamic positioning systems for maneuvering and the complex task of precise position keeping. For optimal deepwater drilling the Kongsberg Riser Management System (RMS) assists in all phases of the drilling operation.

With the continued growth and the high potential of the Brazilian O&G market, the demand for Kongsberg DP systems in ships, support vessels, FPSOs and MODUs is steadily increasing and Kongsberg Maritime do Brasil S.A is expanding and enhancing its presence and investments in the country. Kongsberg Maritime AS, has been engaged in various technological areas related to marine activities for more than 50 years and have been present in Brazil since 1980. They are continuously making efforts to develop their products, organization and employees to accommodate client needs. For their Brazilian operation this focus on client needs is being enhanced by increasing their physical presence in Brazil.

Among the many challenges facing E&P in the Brazilian deepwater pre-salt plays, is that of anchoring the flowlines, platforms, FPSOs and even buoys to the seabed which can be over 2000 meters deep. Petrobras has developed a simple and efficient method of doing this through the Torpedo Pile.In the case of the deepwater pre-salt plays in Brazil, specially at the Santos Basin, the distance from land to some of the proven plays like Tupi and Iara, which are around 300km from shore and pose complex logistics problems even on surface structures. Challenges, such as how to anchor a deepwater rig or FPSO to the seabed 2,200 meters down must be resolved. It is a long distance for anchors to travel, normally four or more anchors are used and these anchors need to be aligned.

BW Offshore’s technology division APL is set to make its South American debut following a contract win to supply Maersk Contractors with a Submerged Turret Production (STP) system for use in Brazil’s Peregrino field.Maersk Contractors is converting one of its new VLCCs into an FPSO for the project and APL will design, fabricate and deliver an internal turret and mooring system for integration inside the FPSO. This includes the STP buoy/turret, the APL swivel stack and mooring lines. APL will also deliver the STP compartment structures. “We are very pleased to be the selected partner for this project and to have the opportunity to continue providing technology and services to one of our key clients,” says Arild Saudland, project manager APL.

The all-electric intelligent completion system has evolved for deep and ultra deepwater. When the world's first all-electric intelligent completion was installed in a subsea deepwater well in the Campos Basin, it was the culmination of five years of development, testing and trials. System acceptance was mild, but with the improvements that have been made and the vital role this system will have in ultra deepwater plays, its future looks very bright.On Aug. 3, 2003, the world's first subsea, deepwater, all-electric intelligent completion system was installed in the 8-MLS-67HA-RJS well, in 3,540 ft (1,180 m) of water at Marlim Sul field. The well is about 60 miles (100 km) offshore at the Campos basin, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Society for Underwater Technology Technical Conference in Rio de Janeiro discusses the main challenges to be faced in Deepwater O&G exploration and examines the many possible solutions through technological innovations. Summary of the first presentations during the second day of the conference.The second day of the SUT Technical Conference started off with keynote speaker David Brookes, Chief engineer Subsea and Floating Systems for BP. Mr. Brookes has been with BP since 1979 and has been in various subsea related positions within the company, been an acknowledged specialist is subsea system. His was an inspiring presentation about the perspectives on subsea development…