Petrobras will receive OTC award for technologies to renew the Campos Basin

Announced by the OTC ( Offshore Technology Conference ) the award recognises the contribution of the Campos Basin Renewal Program to the global industry, with emphasis on the revitalisation of the Marlim field, which boosted development of a set of pioneering technologies for mature fields in deep waters. This advance allowed, in Marlim, a 55% reduction in scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions (resulting from the company's own operations).

“The OTC award recognizes Brazil's competence in deep water technologies and highlights Petrobras' progress in the decarbonisation of its operations. It is the victory of the creativity and boldness of our professionals, recognised worldwide for their technical capacity, leaving a true legacy of knowledge and innovative solutions for the sector”, said the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates. "At the same time, it demonstrates the longevity of the benefits resulting from investments made half a century ago" added the executive.

The renovation of the Campos Basin is part of the largest recovery program for mature assets in deep waters in the world. With 49 years of discovery and 46 of production, the basin remains productive and strategic for the country. To give you an idea, the program added in December 2023, more than 230 thousand barrels per day (bpd) to Brazilian production. This result was achieved with the entry into production, in 2023, of two new platforms in the Marlim field - the FPSOs Anita Garibaldi and Anna Nery -, in addition to the drilling of 45 new wells since 2020 in the other fields in the Campos Basin. FPSO is the acronym for floating oil production, storage and transfer unit.

The renewal of the Campos Basin continues at an accelerated pace. The next unit scheduled to come into operation is the FPSO Maria Quitéria, in 2025, in the Jubarte field, in the Espírito Santo portion of the basin. Furthermore, two new FPSOs are in the contracting phase: one for the Albacora field and the other for the Barracuda and Caratinga fields.

In parallel, Petrobras continues with the drilling of new wells in the region, with work to extend the useful life of the existing infrastructure, as well as continuing with studies for possible new production units in several fields in the basin, such as Albacora, Marlim Sul, Marlim Leste, Jubarte and Roncador. Furthermore, the company continues with exploratory studies for the North of Brava and Água Marinha areas.

The revitalisation of the Campos Basin has boosted the development of a series of innovative technological solutions in the well construction, subsea equipment and surface system segments. These innovations not only allowed the reduction of emissions, but also a significant reduction in costs and increased safety in operations.

One of the technologies was a solution adopted for the construction of post-salt wells, patented by Petrobras: the so-called TOT-3P (in which the well is drilled in three phases). The new concept consists of a more optimised and simplified well configuration, allowing a 49% reduction in well construction time (from 110 to 56 days), in addition to reducing operating costs and CO2 emissions in the well construction activities.

Furthermore, Petrobras adopted a new standardisation model for flexible pipelines, defining the complete set of technical conditions for the design of the lines in order to meet the different project scenarios. This new concept sought to reduce the variability of flexible pipeline types and, consequently, the deadlines for engineering, contracting and supply activities. In parallel, with the use of new methods and technologies, Petrobras managed to increase the useful life and reuse of flexible pipelines and so-called ‘wet Christmas trees’, with the consequent increase in economy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. of the projects. Petrobras contributed to incorporating this knowledge into current and future regulations for the offshore industry.

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/special-reports/26012024/petrobras-will-receive-otc-award-for-technologies-to-renew-the-campos-basin/