Petrobras hits new production record

Brazil’s Petrobras has reached, on December 21st, “a new historical record” of daily oil and NGL production, producing 2 million 286 thousand barrels.

Produced volume does not take into account the share of partners, and broke the previous record of 2 million 257 thousand barrels from December 27th, 2010.

Petrobras has also broken, on December 21st, a daily operated production record, producing 2 million 470 thousand bpd.

According to Petrobras, the new historical record is mainly due to the contribution of nine production systems. Five of them went into operation in 2013 and had new wells interconnected throughout 2014. Another four were installed this year.

From the platforms installed in 2013, the ones that contributed to this record were: P-63, in Papa-Terra field, and P-55, in Roncador field, both in the Campos Basin; FPSO Cidade de Itajaí, in Baúna field, in the Santos Basin post-salt; and FPSOs Cidade de São Paulo, in Sapinhoá field and Cidade de Paraty, in the Lula Northeast area – both in the Santos Basin pre-salt.

The production systems that went into operation in 2014 and also contributed to the record were: P-58, in Parque das Baleias, and P-62, in Roncador field, both in the Campos Basin, and FPSOs Cidade de Mangaratiba, in the Iracema South area, and Cidade de Ilhabela, in the Sapinhoá North area, both in the Santos Basin pre-salt.

Petrobras says that the high operational efficiency of the fields located in the Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo portions of the Campos Basin also contributed to the record as a result of the Operational Efficiency Increase Program (Proef). These areas have maintained a sustainable production, in face of the natural decline in reservoirs. It is also important to emphasize, Petrobras says, the high operational efficiency and production sustainability in Operational Units in the Brazilian North and Northeast regions, which have almost compensated the total natural decline from mature fields in these areas.

With the arrival of new PLSVs (Pipe Laying Support Vessels) and the reduction of unproductive time of these units – a result of the Subsea Installations Cost Reduction Program (PRC-Sub) – the company interconnected 68 new wells – both production and injection wells – until November, 2014, which corresponds to a larger number than the 45 wells interconnected throughout the year in 2013.

Production operated by Petrobras in the pre-salt breaks new record and passes the 700 thousand barrels of oil per day mark

On December 16th, 2014, oil production in fields operated by Petrobras, in both the Santos and the Campos basins pre-salt reached the historical 700 thousand bpd mark. About 74% of this volume (523 thousand bpd) corresponds to the company’s share and 26% correspond to its partners.

The production of 700 thousand bpd was reached only eight years after the first oil discovery at the pre-salt layer, in 2006, and only six months after it hit the 500 thousand barrels mark in June. The company says that this production represents a significant milestone for the oil industry, especially due to the fact that these fields are located in deep and ultra-deep waters.

Only 34 production wells contributed to the 700 thousand bpd mark, which proves the high productivity of the fields already discovered on the pre-salt layer. Sixteen of these wells are located in the Santos Basin, which is responsible for 61% of the volume produced in the pre-salt – approximately 429 thousand bpd. The remaining 18 wells are located in the Campos Basin and are responsible for the remaining 39% – 273,000 barrels per day.

Currently, the pre-salt oil is produced by 12 different platforms, eight of which produce exclusively from that geological layer.

The production increase is due to the excellent operational performance of the well construction and interconnection activities, with support from two strategic programs: the Well Cost Reduction Program (PRC-Poço) and the Subsea Installations Cost Reduction Program (PRC-Sub). These programs integrate initiatives that are incorporating continuous improvements in reducing duration and costs, not only on wells, but also at subsea installations of upstream projects.

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