Deepwater record expected off Brazil in June

Start-up of Brazil's latest world record deepwater development is likely early this month. Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) disclosed at last month's Offshore Technology Conference that production start-up was imminent from the Marlim Sul 3 well, a 1996 discovery in about 1,709 m (5,607 ft) of water in the Campos basin off Rio de Janeiro state (OGJ, May 12, 1977, p. 22). Late last month, the company disclosed more details about Marlim Sul development.

June 9, 1997

5 min read

Start-up of Brazil's latest world record deepwater development is likely early this month.

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) disclosed at last month's Offshore Technology Conference that production start-up was imminent from the Marlim Sul 3 well, a 1996 discovery in about 1,709 m (5,607 ft) of water in the Campos basin off Rio de Janeiro state (OGJ, May 12, 1977, p. 22).

Late last month, the company disclosed more details about Marlim Sul development.

Petrobras also said it is assembling a long list of upstream and downstream projects targeted for joint venture participation with private companies, once Brazil's Congress approves a new law opening up the country's petroleum sector to private investment. That approval is expected by yearend, perhaps as early as late summer.

In 1995, Brazil's government approved a constitution amendment ending Petrobras' monopoly on the petroleum sector and has been trying to hammer out a petroleum investment law ever since (OGJ, Nov. 11, 1996, Newsletter).

Marlim record

Petrobras Director of Exploration and Production Antonio Carlos De Agostini said the 6-MLS-3B-RJS well (Marlim Sul-3), drilled in 1,709 m of water, will go into commercial production early in June.

When that happens, Petrobras claims it will set a record for deepest water completion and production, as well as for the pipeline, risers, and host unit installation.

Marlim Sul field is a massive structure comprising four reservoirs in 800-2,600 m of water just south of supergiant Marlim field (see map).

Initial Marlim Sul development is targeted for portions of the field in as much as 2,000 m of water and involves proven reserves of 616 million bbl of oil equivalent (boe). Only 20% of the total field area lies in less than 1,200 m of water. Total potential field reserves are estimated at 1.8 billion boe.

Such characteristics have led Petrobras to develop new technologies and adapt some existing equipment to reach the reservoirs.

The Marlim Sul-3 well is tied back to a floating production, storage, and off- loading (FPSO) unit. This vessel, dubbed FPSO-2, was converted from a 130,000 dwt tanker at Singapore's Sembawang shipyard by Terminal Installations Inc. under a contract for Petrobras.

The Marlim Sul-3 well is scheduled to remain in production for about 2 years. Eventually, a second well tied back to FPSO-2 will be drilled to collect additional reservoir data.

FPSO-2 is a dynamically positioned vessel linked to a single buoy mooring system in 1,420 m of water.

Redesigned to function specifically in the Campos basin, the Brazilian FPSO unit will be tied to wells completed in more than 1,000 m of water. To anchor FPSO-2 and other drilling or production facilities in Marlim Sul field, the steel components of the usual hawser/steel cable/hawser system will be replaced with lighter, polyester fiber components. This new anchorage configuration is being adapted for other drilling and production units operating in the Campos basin.

Other deepwater technology barriers that Marlim Sul poses have been overcome through the development of new flexible production flowlines, well-control umbilicals, and wet christmas trees.

For Marlim Sul-3 well, the flexible flow lines were supplied by Brasflex Comercio de Tubos Flexiveis, a unit of Coflexip SA, Paris; the umbilicals by Oceaneering Multiflex, a unit of Oceaneering International Inc., Houston; and the wet christmas tree by ABB Vetco Gray (Brazil) SA, Rio de Janeiro. Petrobras anticipates an important technological step forward will occur with the deployment of horizontal wet christmas trees in Campos basin, especially for high-output oil wells such as those in Marlim Sul field.

Petrobras continues to press the frontier of deepwater technology in the Campos basin to a water depth of 2,000 m. Next up is Roncador field, another likely supergiant Campos find made in 1996 that lies in more than 2,000 ft of water and is expected to set another water depth record when an early production scheme starts up in 1998.

Petrobras estimates that 80% of Brazil's oil and gas reserves are concentrated in the Campos basin, with 24% of the total in more than 1,000 m of water.

New financing instrument

The state company also is pressing new frontiers in financing for its efforts to explore for and develop oil and gas in the Campos basin.

Petrobras General Finance Manager Marcio Eiras told OGJ the company selected Japan's Daiwa Bank to raise the equivalent of $250 million in Samurai bonds-for a 6 year maturity at 5%/ year interest rate-to support Campos E&D.

Eiras also said Petrobras will now study raising a further $350 million in Yankee bonds or Eurobonds, depending upon which offering brings the most favorable interest rates, to help fund its Campos campaign.

The government recently ordered Petrobras to make significant budget cuts at a time when domestic demand for oil is rising strongly. Petrobras' plans call for it to boost production of oil by more than 50% to 1.5 million b/d and of natural gas 45% to 1.575 bcfd by 2000.