Efforts and Experiences, Developing Deepwater Projects in Brazil

Abstract

Petrobras, as the largest operator in ultra-deep waters in South America, has been using a field development concept that has proved to be winner since 2010. This concept is well suited for fields with high productivity wells, which produce more than 20,000 barrels of oil per day. In the market, this concept is known as "satellite wells". In this scenario, Petrobras has benefited from its strategy of standardizing subsea equipment, including Wet Christmas Trees (WCT), Flexible Pipes, Umbilicals and Subsea Manifolds. However, since the downturn of 2014, Petrobras has been struggling to simplify its own specifications, looking for the most attractive CAPEX solutions in the market, allowing suppliers to use their own knowledge and experiences to propose low cost solutions, meeting projects requirements. From 2015 onwards, Petrobras has been working with the suppliers, with the Early Engagement initiative, aiming that the integration synergies, existing assets and the experience of these suppliers, could bring to the projects, the benefits of CAPEX reduction, and allowing the advancement and approval of these projects internally in the company. Technological development programs to allow the use of flexible pipes that are resistant to contaminants such as CO2 and H2S, new CRA materials to be applied to rigid flowlines and low-cost riser configurations, have been pursued by Petrobras in order to enable the implementation of ultra-deep water projects.