Peter Howard Wertheim
OGJ Correspondent
RIO DE JANIERO, Apr. 25 -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared his country self-sufficient in oil during start-up of the P-50 floating production, storage, and offloading vessel in Albacora Leste oil field in the Campos basin, 120 km off Rio de Janeiro state.
The 180,000 b/d FPSO's inauguration will allow Brazil to reach an average production level of 1.91 million b/d later this year, slightly above that of the country's oil consumption, said Sergio Gabrielli, president of Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras).
The FPSO weighs 77,000 tons and can store 1.6 million bbl of oil. Production is expected to reach the capacity rate in about 6 months. Repsol YPF holds a 10% interest (OGJ, Apr. 3, 2006, Newsletter).
Gabrielli said Petrobras has a national production target of 2.3 million b/d of oil by 2010, when demand is expected to approach 2 million b/d.
The company plans to bring three other floating producing facilities on stream during 2006: the P-34 FPSO, 60,000 b/d from Jubarte field off Espírito Santo; the Sevan Marine SSP-300 monocolumn FPSO, 20,000 b/d in Piranema field off Sergipe; and the Capixaba FPSO, 100,000 b/d in Golfinho field off Espírito Santo.
Guilherme Estrella, Petrobras exploration and production director, said Brazil's current oil reserves can sustain self-sufficiency for 10 years.
