Marine Technology Reporter Blogs

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.

Petrobras and PGS (Petroleum Geo-Services) announced on June 14th, 2010 in Rio de Janeiro that they have signed an agreement for PGS to install a permanent seismic monitoring system in the Jubarte field in the North Campos Basin, Espirito Santo province, offshore Brazil.PGS will install its OptoSeis fiber-optic system, as well as perform seismic acquisition and data processing for the project. This project is a significant step forward in the use of geophysics for reservoir surveillance, in particular 4D-4C seismic to map the flow of fluids in Brazil's deep water reservoirs. It is hoped that the system will improve the quality and timeliness of information that Petrobras' geophysics team provide their counterparts, reservoir and production engineers, that operate the fields.

Corus Tubes manufactured the thickest UOE 18” ever made especially for deepwater pipes at the Tupi field, in the Santos Basin.Corus Tubes has successfully manufactured 118km of 457mm x 31.75mm Grade X65 sour linepipe for the Petrobras Tupi project. This linepipe is designed to operate in Brazil’s Santos Basin at a depth of 2200m, and is thickest 18” UOE pipe manufactured to date. The design criteria allowed for fatigue and corrosion concerns as well as depth/collapse issues, and this led to the demanding and previously untried thickness to diameter ratio (t/D) of 0.0695. Some innovative steps were taken by Corus Tubes to control pipe shape, a critical element for subsequent laying of the pipe and collapse performance.

Since last year OGX Petróleo e Gás has been having excellent results in its exploratory campaign in the Campos Basin.OGX Petróleo e Gás, which is the Brazilian O&G company responsible for the largest private sector exploratory campaign in Brazil, recently announced that it had identified two oil-bearing intervals, one in the Aptian section of well 1-OGX-10-RJS and another in the Eocene section of well 1-OGX-13-RJS, which are located in the BM-C-42 and BM-C-41 blocks, respectively, in the shallow waters of the southern part of the Campos Basin, where they have been drilling the majority of their exploratory wells, with a very high percentage of success. OGX holds a 100% working interest in both blocks.

The FMC research center will be located at the technology center inside the UFRJ campus, which already houses other important international research centers and CENPES research center, owned by Petrobras.FMC will be the fourth major international O&G service provider to establish itself at the UFRJ technology park, joining Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Halliburton (still in negotiations). Expectation are high that with this great influx of researchers and investments in the UFRJ Technological Park, it will soon become the biggest O&G research center in the world, it is already acknowledged as being at the forefront of deepwater technological research.

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.

The future of O&G recovery most likely lies in deepwater reservoirs. Subsea processing opens the door to more cost-efficient developments, especially for long step-outs and, marginal and deepwater fields. Large-scale seabed processing facilities will require a subsea power grid system that is able to operate for long step-outs with total reliability withstanding extreme pressure and temperatures. As technology leader on land-based power grids, Siemens has configured complex power transmissions to suite multiple subsea operations. Siemens also has broad experience with subsea power concept studies as well as experience producing deep-sea transformers and compressors and ten years experience on subsea control and communication.

C & C is known through the world as a technological leader in the survey field, they´ve been responsible for innovations such as C-Nav, Globally-corrected GPS and the C-Surveyor™ AUVs that have made groundbreaking advancements to the survey industry and subsequently have saved clients time and money worldwide.C & C Technologies do Brasil, a subsidiary of C & C Technologies, Inc. (C & C), the worldwide leader in deepwater autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) operations, was recently awarded a $50 million contract by Petrobras. The 730 day contract will utilize C & C’s state-of-the-art C-Surveyor II AUV and M/V Northern Resolution. The contract can be renewed for an additional 730 days, making the contract potentially worth $100 million.

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 market for ROV services is set for continuous growth in Brazil as new deepwater fields are explored and developed. The recent contract Subsea 7´s i-Tech division signed with Petrobras (Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.) to provide ROV´s and intervention tooling services on up to 30 offshore drilling rigs is a good indication of what is to come. This contract alone will basically double the size of i-tech in Brazil, the contract value is estimated at a minimum of $250m with the potential for up to $405m, depending on the number of units that will go to each rig and the number of personnel deployed to maintain and operate the ROV´s. There are also many ongoing ROV support vessel…

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.

The new Subsea 7 pipeline manufacturing facility and spoolbase will mainly serve the deepwater pre-salt developments at the Santos Basin. Subsea 7 has been active in Brazil for 15 years and has its main offices in workshop in Niteroi, in the state Rio de Janeiro and a spoolbase close to the city of Ubu in the state of Espirito Santo. Although construction of the new plant and spoolbase hasn´t started yet, Subsea 7 is only waiting for a state environmental license to begin building what is to be named the Paraná Subsea Construction Park. The company will invest $100 million and expects to create 600 direct jobs at the new site. Subsea 7 earned $2,4 billion worldwide and $848 million in Brazil in 2009.

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…

Aker Solutions do Brasil Ltda. was recently awarded a large subsea contract by Petrobras to supply subsea trees for two of Brazil's pre-salt areas. With this latest contract and the previous contract for subsea trees at the Tupi field, Aker Solutions has secured its presence in all the pre-salt fields presently being developed by Petrobras.Aker Solutions do Brasil Ltda. has signed a frame agreement with Petrobras to supply 40 subsea trees for the Iara and Guará fields, located in the challenging pre-salt area of the Santos basin offshore Brazil. The contract is of approximately USD 300 million. The scope of works includes engineering and manufacturing of 40 vertical subsea trees for 2.500 meter water depths, subsea control systems and 17 complete tool sets.

The company will sell the areas in order to finance the development of the proven reserves it has discovered at the Campos Basin.OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações S.A., is looking to find partners to develop the fields it has discovered at the Campos Basin. The Executive Director of OGX, Paulo Mendonça confirmed during a recent conference with market analysts that the company will sell 20% of its areas at the Campos Basin. OGX has 7 blocks in Campos and has discovered oil in 5 of them. According to the company in these 5 blocks they have discovered reserves amounting to between 2,6 and 5,5 billion barrels. Paulo Mendonça guaranteed that…

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.