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Overcoming Brazil's pre-salt challenges
(8/8/2009) Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) has devised a range of strategies it will employ to overcome the technological and logistical challenges confronting it in the development of oil reserves beneath the pre-salt layer offshore Brazil. The company elaborated on these plans at the recent Brazil Offshore New Frontier conference in Macae, Brazil.
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Brazilian President Jose Lula on Tupi platform. |
Petrobras initially explained that the pre-salt reservoirs are composed of carbonatic rock, which is little known and less present in the rest of the world. It said that these reservoirs lie not only beneath the ultra-deep waters of the South Atlantic Ocean in the Santos Basin, but beneath a salt layer that in some areas is as much as 2,000 meters in thickness. Together they present significant technological challenges for both exploration and development of pre-salt reserves.
Petrobras said among the difficulties to be confronted to develop production in the Santos Basin pre-salt play are the definition of the best geological model, the development of the most economical and appropriate well geometry for the reservoir, and the assurance the oil can be transported through risers, fowlines, and pipelines. In the case of the Tupi Field, which is thought to harbor between 5 billion and 8 billion bbl of oil, solutions for other important technical challenges must be had, such as the best treatment of the carbon dioxide (CO2) that is produced along with the oil. Furthermore, because it appears that there is and will be a considerable volume of associated gas produced, a further challenge is to develop the necessary facilities to process and export that gas over a distance of more than 300 km to shore.
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Santos Basin's pre-salt structur. |
Petrobras created a multidisciplinary program in 2007 that is confronting some of the problems associated with development and production from the pre-salt fields. Conceived in partnership with Brazilian and foreign universities, as well as suppliers, it established the Technological Program for the Development of the Pre-salt Reservoir Production (Prosal) to be responsible for originating and developing the technology required to meet pre-salt production challenges.
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Seadrill's West Polaris is type of drilling unit required. |
Petrobras also reported that it is contracting suppliers to meet requirements of its strategic planning period 2009-13 with the aim of negotiating prices and long-term agreements via competitive bidding and strategic partnerships. Most of those service contracts, in addition to the thousands of items to be procured, represent a unique opportunity for the development of the Brazilian offshore industry and the achievement of a significant participation of local content in the pre-salt projects and to attract global companies to Brazil to increase the range of products that may be manufactured in the country.
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Pre-salt geoloy. |
As for technology, Petrobras intends to procure large families of equipment instead of holding bids broken down based on specific projects. It anticipates this approach will allow for a gain in scale among suppliers and afford the company more agility in delivery terms, considering the complex timeline of the pre-salt ventures. Another solution would be the usage of standardized, minimally customized equipment to allow for faster project execution and to reduce risks and costs.
Because of the unprecedented demand for drilling and completion rigs, particularly those capable of operating in ultra-deepwater areas and of drilling to great depths, Petrobras has undertaken extensive studies of the availability of such units worldwide. It has to that end sought to ensure the early charter of these special drilling rigs, which are the targets of global competition to contract them.
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Tupi development scheme. |
The company stressed at the Macae forum that the development of sophisticated technologies and efficient tools is essential, many of which are not yet available in the market, to improve the chances of finding and producing oil and gas from increasingly complex pre-salt prospects - those that extend the exploration frontier and necessitate unique equipment to drill, complete, and bring into production, sometimes with the interconnection of wells. In addition, because these vast pre-salt reserves are situated in ultra-deep water and are under extremely high pressure, often with high CO2 content, they require innovation in the creation of new flowlines, risers, and other subsea equipment.
Petrobras said the development of this level of technology and equipment makes the establishment of partnerships between Brazilian and foreign providers essential. It said the goal in this approach is for foreign suppliers to use the manufacturing facilities of companies that are already in Brazil or for them to establish new facilities in the country, either alone or in association with domestic operations, and to work closely with Brazilian technicians.
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