Petrobras began producing oil and natural gas on Monday from the FPSO Carioca the first definitive production system installed in the Sepia field, in the pre-salt of the Santos Basin. The Brazilian state oil company said this will be the largest unit in the country, in complexity and volume of oil production.
With this unit, Petrobras has 22 platforms in pre-salt production, which together already account for 70% of the company’s total output.
The FPSO Carioca is located approximately 200 km from the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in water depth of 2,200 meters. With the capacity to process up to 180,000 barrels of oil daily and compress up to 6 million m³ of natural gas, FPSO Carioca, a unit chartered by Modec, will contribute to the expected growth of Petrobras’ production.
The project foresees the interconnection of seven producing wells and four injector wells to the FPSO.
The flow of oil production will be done by relief ships, while gas production will be drained by pre-salt pipeline routes. Aligned with Petrobras’ commitment to reduce carbon intensity by 32% in the Exploration and Production area by 2025, with continuous investment in research and development, the project also has a CO2 removal system present in the gas produced and reinjection in the deposit, reducing the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and improving oil recovery.
“FPSO Carioca is an example of our strategy of concentrating investments in world-class exploration and production assets, such as pre-salt, which has areas with large reserves, low risk and competitive costs. This promotes more return for the company and society, creating a virtuous cycle of value generation,” says the Director of Production Development, João Henrique Rittershaussen.
These activities have generated around 600 direct jobs. In the shipyard, during the construction phase, two of the modules that make up the FPSO were manufactured, which contributed to the local content of the project and generated approximately 400 direct jobs.
Petrobras plans to invest US$46.5 billion in oil and gas production in Brazil by 2025, working in partnership with other companies in the E&P area, focusing on deep and ultra-deep waters. FPSO Carioca is the first of the company’s 13 new platforms planned to go into production between 2021 and 2025.
By 2025, there will be 12 new deepwater production systems, which add to the 60 existing platforms in operation by Petrobras. With this degree of specialization, the company said it is becoming increasingly efficient in the operation.
The shared sepia deposit is composed of the Sepia and Sepia Leste fields, located in areas of the Onerous Assignment and Concession (BM-S-24), respectively, operated by Petrobras (97.6%), in partnership with Petrogal Brasil S.A. (2.4%).
With the beginning of production in Sepia, Petrobras said it reaffirms and consolidates the focus of its strategy on deep and ultra-deep water reservoirs, in projects that are premised on safety and respect for the environment.
