01 Sep 2009 by PreSalt.com - Source: Petrobras News
A new horizon for Brazil: Petrobras was the first company in the world to find and produce oil and gas under the salt layer in geological horizons and at depths of up to 7,000 meters from the water line. The new discoveries will rank Petrobras and the Country on a privileged position in the global oil and gas industry.
Located in the Santos Basin, the Tupi accumulation alone holds recoverable volumes estimated at 5 to 8 billion barrels of oil equivalent (oil plus gas). The Iara reservoir, meanwhile, also in the Santos Basin, holds 3 to 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Other Santos Basin reservoirs, such as Jupiter, Carioca, Bem-Te-Vi, Guará, Parati, Caramba, Iguaçu e Iracema, are in their assessment phases. In the Jubarte pre-salt field, in the region known as the Parque das Baleias, located in the Espírito Santo portion of the Campos Basin, it is estimated there are 1.5 to 2 billion barrels. This area’s first oil production started on September 2 2008.
The Company expects to invest $111.4 billion developing production in the pre-salt through 2020: $98.8 billion in the Santos Basin, and $12.6 billion in Espírito Santo.
What is the pre-salt?
The major discoveries made in the past few years in the pre-salt layer are spread along the Brazilian coast, between the states of Santa Catarina and Espírito Santo, along the coast, at about 300 km from the shoreline. The pre-salt layer, however is not distributed uniformly. Oil there is of good quality – around 30o API – and is nestled in reservoirs at depths of 5,000 to 7,000 meters from the water line. Tupi is nearly 300 km off the coast, while the producer fields in the Campos Basin are up to 150 km away from the shore.
The Santos Basin Pre-Salt Pole is comprised of the areas encompassed by blocks BM-S-8, BM-S-9, BM-S-10, BM-S-11, BM-S-21, BM-S-22 (operated by Exxon), and BM-S-24. These blocks are about 300 km off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro and some 350 km away from the state of São Paulo shoreline, at water depths ranging from 1,900 to 2,400 meters, which is considered as ultra deep. All blocks except for block BM-S-24 (Jupiter) have assessment plans approved by the ANP.
Tupi
Tupi is expected to produce 100,000 barrels of oil and five million cubic meters of gas per day in 2010. In 2017, pre-salt production is envisioned to surpass the 1-million-barrel-per-day mark, and to top out at 1.8 million in 2020. This will nearly double Brazil’s current production.
Petrobras has been performing the Extended Well Test (EWT) there since May 1 2009, with the Cidade de São Vicente platform vessel, which is anchored at Tupi, at exploratory block BM-S-11. The EWT will allow technicians to get to know the production conditions better, since at the Santos Basin’s pre-salt region, among other characteristics, the reservoirs are in carbonate rocks of microbial origin, unlike the sandy turbidite formations found in the Campos Basin, which are already known by the Company. In this test, additionally, among other things, the behavior of the reservoirs in long-term production, the movement or draining of the fluids during production, and submarine outflow and improved well geometry will be investigated.
Refining
Petrobras refined the first pre-salt oil load at the Capuava Refinery (Recap), in São Paulo, in June. The pioneering processing of this oil will allow the yield and derivative quality to be proved on the commercial scale.
Development plan
Two phases have been set in the Santos Basin Pre-Salt Pole Integrated Development Master Plan: the first, dubbed Phase Zero, is aimed at collecting geological and production information by means of the drilling of 22 exploratory wells to delimit the reservoirs and Extended Well Tests (EWT), in addition to the Tupi Pilot. The definitive production systems will be deployed during the second phase, dubbed Phase “1.”
The Tupi Pilot will go on stream in late 2010, with FPSO Cidade de Angra dos Reis, which will be able to process 100,000 barrels of oil and compress 4 million cubic meters of gas per day.
Two more anticipated pilot projects are planned to be operated and eight FPSO-type production units, the so-called replicating ones, since they will share similar projects, to go on stream in Phase “1A.” The two new pilots, with characteristics similar to those of Tupi, will go on stream between 2013-2014 at blocks BM-S-9 and BM-S-11, likely in known areas such as Guará and Iara, in a deployment sequence yet to be defined. The eight replicating FPSOs, capable of producing 120,000 barrels of oil per day each, are expected to kick-off operations between 2015 and 2017 and to allow a production of more than 1 million barrels per day to be attained in 2017. These vessels’ hulls are currently forecast to be build in series at the Rio Grande Ship Yard, in Rio Grande do Sul.
Challenges and opportunities
In addition to increasing the Brazilian oil production, the development of the pre-salt discoveries will boost job opportunities with the training of highly specialized labor. It will also allow the creation of new technological solutions, systems, and production units, both for equipment and logistics. The investments that have been foreseen will allow for unparalleled base industry development and for the expansion of engineering companies, of the naval industry, of large equipment manufacturers, and of service providers.
The challenges to be faced to develop production in the pre-salt region will afford extraordinary opportunities for the creation of knowledge, technological programs and partnerships with universities and research institutes, buttressing the integration with the Brazilian and international technological community.
History
In 2005, a rig was sent to the Santos Basin to drill a pioneer well in block BM-S-10, in the area now known as Parati. Fifteen months later, a giant gas field and oil condensate reservoirs were found at a depth of 7,600 meters. In July 2006, evidence of oil was found at a depth of 5,000 meters, below the salt layer, at block BM-S-11. Seven more wells were drilled and oil found in all of them. In November 2008, the Company drilled successfully below the salt layer in the Campos Basin, in the Parque das Baleias, in Espírito Santo.
Production went online in the Jubarte field, in the Campos Basin, in September 2008, using operating facilities installed for post-salt production via FPSO JK P-34. In phase 2, foreseen for 2011, Petrobras will use platform P-57, which is capable of processing 180,000 barrels of oil and of compressing 2 million cubic meters of gas.
The experience accumulated in decades exploring deep and ultra deep waters affords Petrobras conditions to develop technologies that allow it to overcome the challenges of lifting hydrocarbons under the new conditions. The Technological Program for the Development of Production from the Pre-Salt Reservoirs (Prosal) was created in 2007, following suit of other programs developed at the Research Center (Cenpes), such as the Technological Qualification Program in Deep Waters (Procap), for deepwater, created in 1986. Petrobras also has partnerships with the scientific community, driving the evolution of the domestic technology. The Cenpes also has partnerships with universities and science and technology institutions and invests some R$400 million in its projects per year.
Exploration costs and terms have plummeted since the first well was drilled in the pre-salt, in 2005. Back then, it used to cost $240 million and take about a year to drill a well. Petrobras can now drill a well in 70 to 80 days for $60 million.
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