Deepwater Developments From a Career-Long Petrobras Perspective

Abstract

Pillars of the Industry - Deepwater developments from a career-long Petrobras perspective. The evolution of deepwater production cannot be discussed without mentioning the contribution of Petrobras’ upstream activity. The reason is Petrobras’ success in overcoming enormous technological challenges in deep water during the last decade. I joined Petrobras in 1986, when our production was around 0.6 million B/D, mainly from onshore and shallow-water operations. With the enormous pressure on the Brazilian trade balance from high-priced oil imports, it became imperative to increase domestic supplies. The only area capable of yielding a significant increase in national oil production was the Campos basin. The Marlim and Albacora giant field discoveries during 1985–86 at water depths up to 1000 m brought new opportunities and challenges that promoted enormous technological advancement in the petroleum industry in the following decades. I find it exciting that, 25 years after I joined the company, Petrobras’ oil production has now reached 2 million B/D, an increase—mostly from deep water—of almost 1.5 million B/D.