Brazil: Petrobras to Put New Gas Ventures in Espirito Santo into Operation

Petrobras announces it will put three new industrial ventures into operation in Espírito Santo, this week, which will contribute to increase the supply of gas to the consumer market: the second module of the Cacimbas Gas Treatment Unit (UTGC), the pre-operation of the Sul Capixaba Gas Treatment Unit (UTG Sul), and the Canapu gas field, located off the northern coast of the state.

These projects are part of the Gas Production Anticipation Plan (Plangas).

With operations going on stream at the two new treatment units, the nominal gas processing capacity in Espírito Santo will reach around 12 million cubic meters per day. With production being kicked off at the Canapu Field, which has the potential to produce 2 million cubic meters per day, the total gas production in the state, currently standing at around 10 million cubic meters, will be the same nominal volume of the gas that is processed.

UTGC

The second UTGC module, in Linhares, consists of a Natural Gas Processing Unit (UPGN) and of a Natural Gas Condensate Processing Unit (UPCGN). After process adjustment and stabilization, expected to take place in the coming days, this module will ramp the UTGC’s nominal processing capacity up to 9 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, underpinning the importance of Espírito Santo in the supply of this input to the Brazilian market.

Inaugurated in February 2006, the UTGC was originally designed to treat and to bring to the market the gas produced in Peroá Field, located off the Northern Coast of the State. With Module 2 in operation, the UTGC’s capacity to produce cooking gas (LPG) will grow to 1,800 tons per day, which will be transported via pipeline to the Barra do Riacho Waterway Terminal, in Aracruz, from where it will be shipped in gas vessels to supply the domestic market.

With the completion of the work on Module 3, slated for early 2011, the UTGC will have the capacity to process up to 16 million cubic meters of natural gas, 2,700 tons of LPG, and 5,300 cubic meters of condensate daily.

UTG Sul

The Sul Capixaba Gas Treatment Unit is located near the region of Ubu, in the town of Anchieta, which is located at about 100 km from Vitória. The unit has an initial capacity to process 2.5 million cubic meters of gas per day, produced in fields located in the Parque das Baleias, in the Southern offshore area of Espírito Santo.

The Sul Capixaba gas drainage and treatment system is formed by UTG Sul and and by an 83-km long gas pipeline, ensuring the flow and treatment of all of the gas produced in the area.

These new gas treatment units are strategically interconnected to the Southeast-Northeast Gas Pipeline (Gasene), which makes it possible to supply the Southeast and Northeast, according to the specifications provided by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) .

The Canapu field

The development of the Canapu field is the first deepwater gas production project to operate in Brazil, at depths of approximately 1,600 meters from the water line. Canapu is a field of non-associated gas with potential to produce 2 million cubic meters per day through a single well (ESS-138) connected to the FPSO Cidade de Vitória vessel platform. This FPSO also produces gas from the Golfinho Field, which is sent for processing at the UTGC.

Since the Canapu well is 22 km away from the platform, Petrobras inaugurated an innovative technology to enable production there: the “pipe-in-pipe,” which consists of a 6-inch in diameter pipe that is inserted into another 12-inch pipeline kept separate from each other with special coatings. This technology eliminates a common problem in the oil industry, namely the hydrate formation in the pipeline.

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Source:Petrobras October,11,