Brazil marks more offshore exploration and development progress

Brazil continues to mark progress on offshore exploration and development, including still more deepwater records.

State oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) recently disclosed another deepwater record with the installation of a diverless guidelineless tree in Marlim Sul field in the Campos basin off Rio de Janeiro state (OGJ, July 21, 1997, Newsletter).

In the latest such development, Petrobras said it has refurbished its oldest crude oil tanker, converting it into a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) system for use in Campos basin oil fields.

Elsewhere off Brazil, Petrobras discovered two oil fields off the northeastern state of Sergipe.

New FPSO

The Presidente Prudente de Moraes (PP Moraes), which Petrobras built in 1959, will be anchored in an FPSO world-record water depth of 840 m, Petrobras said.

It also will have the largest turret system in the world, with 34 production lines, the company claims.

PP Moraes will operate in the giant fields of Barracuda and Caratinga in the Campos basin and have capacity to handle production of 45,000 b/d of crude oil and 14 MMCfd of natural gas.

The turret system was developed by Petrobras and U.S. company Sofec Inc, and the tanker/FPSO conversion was conducted in Rio de Janeiro under the supervision of Petrobras engineering service.

Sergipe strikes

Petrobras found the two oil fields off Sergipe with its exploratory wells 4-BRG-32-SE, located at Brejo Grande, at the mouth of the Sao Francisco River; and 1-SES-114, located 14 km offshore and 3 km east of Guaricema field.

Sergipe state produces 37,400 b/d of crude oil and 70 MMcfd of natural gas.

The 1-SES-114 well, drilled in 38 m of water, cut 15 m of oil pay at 1,437 m. Production tests yielded a potenti al flow rate of 1,500 b/d of 40° crude oil. This new field contains estimated reserves of 7 million bbl of crude oil to be incorporated into Guaricema's production system. Development plans for 1-SES-114 call for five producing wells with estimated combined total output of 3,000 b/d in 1998.

Drilled 2 km west of Brejo Grande field, Petrobras's 4-BRG-32-SE well cut 14 m of pay at about 1,780 m. Initial flow tests yieled 300 b/d of 20° gravity oil, and reserves are pegged at 2.2 million bbl of oil.