Petrobras sets new pre-salt production record

On 18 May, Petrobras set a new pre-salt production record, with output of 322,100 barrels of oil per day (bpd), 11,000 bpd up on the previous record of 311,500 bpd, set on 17 April.

In addition to encouraging figures for pre-salt production, the company also achieved record output in Espírito Santo, with a monthly average figure of 322,700 bpd, surpassing the previous record set in December 2011.

During May, the production of oil and LNG for all Petrobras fields in Brazil averaged 1.892 million bpd, 1.7% down on the April figure (1.924 million barrels). Including the share operated by Petrobras for partner companies, exclusive oil output in Brazil was 1.942 million bpd. This drop was partly offset by the increasing contribution from pre-salt areas to consolidated output results.

In May, total output of oil and natural gas from domestic fields was 2.267 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), 2.1% down on the previous month. Including the share operated by Petrobras for partner companies, total output was 2.359 million boed.

Added to the company’s output abroad, Petrobras’ total oil and natural gas output in May averaged 2.500 million boed, 2% down on the April figure. The drop in output was due to scheduled maintenance shutdowns on platforms P-25 and P-31, in the Campos Basin’s Albacora field, and on FPSO Cidade de Angra dos Reis, operating in the Campos Basin’s Lula field pilot project.

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50% of total production to be pre-salt by 2020, Petrobras says

Petrobras has cut its average drilling time by approximately 50% since 2006 to around 70 days per well in 2012, Carlos Tadeu da Costa Fraga, executive manager for Petrobras, said during a luncheon at the 2013 OTC.

By Joanne Liou, associate editor

Recounting Petrobras’ history in pre-salt activities so far, Carlos Tadeu da Costa Fraga, executive manager for Petrobras, shared the company’s strategy to accelerate the transformation of discoveries to producing fields. In 2012, its pre-salt production made up 7% of the company’s total output, Mr Fraga stated at the 2013 OTC in Houston on 7 May. “We expect to have 42% of production coming from pre-salt in 2017 and 50% of the total production coming from the pre-salt in 2020.”

Petrobras’ pre-salt exploration of the Santos Basin began in 2000 and 2001 with the acquisition of the Santos Basin pre-salt blocks, drilling the first wildcat well in 2005. In 2006, the company made its first major discovery with the Lula field, and by 2010, Petrobras had declared commercial production from that field. Drawing a comparison between the Campos and Santos basins, Mr Fraga noted the sizeable volume being discovered in the Santos Basin in a relatively short amount of time. “The Campos Basin took us 23 years since the first discovery to have the current assessment that we have regarding the volume of oil and gas in place,” he said. “In pre-salt, just after the first four years of exploration and after the first discovery, we’ve reached the same point in oil and gas assessment.”

Although it took Petrobras a much shorter timeline to explore and assess the Santos Basin than Campos, Mr Fraga noted that the strategy used was the same for both areas. “First is a very intensive appraisal step to understand the reservoir and to come up with the proper and responsible decision after we learn about the area.” In the Santos Basin alone, up to the end of 2012, Petrobras had drilled 60 wells, run 41 drill stem tests and cut approximately 4,900 ft (1.5 km) of coring. The company had run 72 conventional logs and 57 production logs during wells tests.

Production numbers indicate the company’s success, with its approximately 300,000 bbls/day of production expected to reach more than 1 million bbls/day by 2017 and more than 2 million bbls/day by 2020. “It’s possible, but it’s going to demand a lot of energy and work,” Mr Fraga said. “I’m very confident we are going to do it. We need to count on you all to have those projects in on time and on schedule and on cost,” he told the OTC audience.

Mr Fraga referred to innovation acceleration – technological development from geological models and flow models, well technology and subsea equipment, which is key to ramp up production. “As we have a very sizeable area, as we are going to have long-term performance, we want to be able to accommodate any new technology that may come in the future,” he said. Petrobras also is working to reduce its drilling costs, which represent approximately 50% of its capital expenses in pre-salt. The current average drilling time for a well is already 50% less than the average time of 143 days in 2006. “We are drilling wells around 70 days,” Mr Fraga said. “Last week we finished a well in less than 40 days.”

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Petrobras' First Intelligent Completion System Goes To Baker Oil Tools

HOUSTON, TEXAS (October 2, 2000) Baker Oil Tools has been awarded Petrobras' first-ever Intelligent Completion System contract. Ultimately intended for the Brazilian operator's ultra-deepwater Roncador field, Baker Oil Tools InCharge Intelligent Well System was selected over other offerings due to its simplicity and all-electronic design, incorporating a one-penetration approach and a power-on-communications architecture that will require little to no retrofit of existing subsea trees. The first qualification deployment of the InCharge system will take place at Mossor, near Natal, Brazil, at the beginning of the next year.

"Baker Oil Tools is very excited to participate with Petrobras in this deepwater milestone," said Baker Oil Tools President Ed Howell. "The all-electronic InCharge system is an ideal fit with Petrobras' objectives of reliability and elimination of hydraulics from subsea dynamic systems," Howell commented.

All-electronic system enhances reliability

"For an intelligent completion system to deliver on its functionality, it must be engineered as an integral part of the completion system. This means a detailed focus on reliability in all phases of the implementation, from design through deployment, integration and commissioning," Howell explained. The InCharge all-electronic real-time monitoring and control system has been designed with all terminations, bypasses, feedthroughs, and splices engineered within reliable, conventional completion components. "This allows operators to achieve downhole monitoring and control without compromising proven completion designs and techniques," Howell said.

One aspect of the InCharge system that is particularly valuable to subsea operators is the single control line that penetrates packers and wellhead. Combining power transmission, command and control, and data transmission on a single, 1/4-inch penetration delivers simplicity without sacrificing functionality. From this control line, the operator can monitor and control up to 12 zones in a single well, and up to 12 wells from a single InCharge Surface Control System.

The InCharge system monitors real-time measurements of pressure, temperature and flow at the sandface level(s), in both the tubing and annulus. This enables the operator to manage production and/or injection conditions in real time, and to selectively control individual zonal flow rates, thereby allowing continuous well optimization in response to changing conditions downhole. Flow contribution can be properly allocated, water and gas breakthrough can be controlled, and multiple target zones can be pre-completed to be selectively brought onstream or shut off at will from the PC-based control system.

World's first electrical wet disconnect tool

Petrobras early 2001 qualification deployment of the InCharge system will employ the world's first downhole electrical disconnect/reconnect system. Based on Baker's hydraulic wet disconnect system (also a world first), the system enables downhole electrical connectivity that is compatible with proven hydraulic/mechanical techniques routinely used in state-of-the-art deepwater tubing space-out, expansion/contraction, and stress management systems.

Baker Oil Tools is a world leader in total completion, workover, and fishing solutions that help exploration and production companies optimize their hydrocarbon recovery investment. Baker Oil Tools solutions are based on advanced downhole and surface technology, practically applied, to help operators produce at the highest levels and the lowest cost throughout the life of the reservoir.

Baker Hughes (BHI, NYSE, PCX, EBS) is a leading supplier of reservoir-centered products, services, and systems to the worldwide oil and gas industry.

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