Brazilian field revitalisation campaign in full swing as well comes online ahead of schedule

Brazilian oil and gas company PRIO, formerly known as PetroRio, has kicked off production nearly a year ahead of schedule from a well located at a field within the Northern Campos Basin off the coast of Brazil.

As part of PRIO’s plans to create a production cluster through the tie-back between the Wahoo and Frade fields, a development plan was submitted to the National Petroleum Agency, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) in December 2021.

Several months later, in April 2022, the firm confirmed the receipt of the operating licence, issued by the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), for the drilling of new wells on the Frade field.

According to PRIO, it has now brought on stream the ODP5 (F23P3) well in the Frade field, with stabilised initial production of approximately 8,000 barrels of oil per day. This helped the company to exceed the milestone of 100,000 barrels per day of production.

During the execution of the Frade revitalisation campaign, geological information was collected, which serves as a base to enable the realisation of a third phase of the redevelopment campaign, whose next steps are still under analysis, says PRIO.

The company further adds that the ODP5 well is the first well in this new phase, almost one year ahead of schedule, with costs in line with previous wells for its construction and subsea connection. It is positioned in the same reservoir as the ODP4 well, the first producing well of the campaign.

Ocyan’s semi-submersible Norbe VI rig, which PRIO hired in 2021 for the Frade field revitalisation campaign and the Wahoo field development, mobilised in April 2022 to start working on its drilling assignment.

After the first well was drilled, PRIO revealed in July 2022 that it had started production at the ODP4 well in the Frade field. In August 2022, the Brazilian firm confirmed the start of production from the second well in this revitalisation campaign, with average initial production of approximately 3,500 barrels of oil per day over the first week.

The Frade field is a subsea development with wells tied back to the FPSO Valente. PRIO owns a 100 per cent interest in the Frade field following deals with Petrobras and Chevron in January 2021 and March 2019, respectively.

PRIO is working on expanding its portfolio, as demonstrated by its acquisition of TotalEnergies’ interest in the BM-C-32 block, containing the Itaipu field, offshore Brazil, enabling it to take full ownership of the field.

In addition, the firm paid almost $2 billion in total for the acquisition of Petrobras’ entire stake in Albacora Leste deepwater field off Brazil, enabling it to take over the operatorship of the field.