Partners in San Alberto field south of Tarija in Bolivia brought the first development phase on stream in early January.
The partners in the gas development project are operator Petrobras Bolivia SA-a unit of Petroleo Brasileiro SA-with 35%; TotalFinaElf SA with 15%; and Empresa Petrolera Andina SA 50%.
The area is producing 6.6 million cu m/day, which is transported to Brazil through the Bolivia-Brazil pipeline under a 20-year take-or-pay contract with Petrobras. The field also produces 1,300 b/d of condensate, which is also shipped to Brazil. Under the terms of the same contract, TotalFinaElf and partners plan to increase gas deliveries to 12 million cu m/day when the project's second phase comes on stream in 2002.
Second phase work is under way.
For TotalFinaElf, start up of San Alberto production is a first step in developing the San Alberto block and adjacent blocks, including San Antonio (in which the company holds 15%) and XX West (which TotaFinaElf operates with 41%).
San Alberto is just north of the border with Argentina. Petrobras put San Alberto reserves at 5.3 tcf of gas and 90 million bbl of condensate in Devonian formations at around 19,000 ft.
The San Alberto first stage development garnered a total investment of $200 million, including $147 million for exploration and development wells and $53 million for the processing plant and 32 km of pipelines that connect the plant with the Yacuiba-Rio Grande (Rio Grande do Sul) branch of the Gasbol pipeline.
Petrobras inaugurated the company's first Bolivian gas processing plant on 6 ha at the field near Carapari in early January.
Two more development stages will allow production to climb to 13 million cu m/day in 2003 and 22 million cu m/day in 2004-05, Petrobras said.
