Enauta forced to stop Atlanta output again only day after restart

Brazilian oil and gas company Enauta, formerly known as QGEP, has once again been forced to stop production from the only producing well on the Atlanta field to replace a faulty heater only a day after restarting it following a shutdown in November 2020.

The Atlanta field Early Production System started production in May 2018, almost two years behind the schedule. The EPS is comprised of three productions wells connected to the FPSO Petrojarl I.

Enauta, as the operator of the Atlanta field offshore Brazil, in November 2020 announced the preventive interruption of production from one of the producing wells on the field.

In an update on Tuesday, Enauta informed that the 7-ATL-4HB-RJS well has returned to production with an initial production of approximately 11.0kbbl/day.

The other two wells – 7-ATL-3H-RJ and 7-ATL-2HP-RJS – are expected to return to production by the end of the first quarter of 2021 and by mid-2021, respectively.

At the time that statement was issued, Enauta’s estimates were that the average daily production of the field for 2021 will reach 14.0 kbbl/day, plus or minus 10 per cent when the daily average is verified on an annual basis.

However, in a further update, issued on Wednesday 27 January, Enauta informed of a new interruption in production at the Atlanta field.

Namely, the repair in the heater was carried out and production in the 7-ATL-4HB-RJS well was restarted. However, the equipment did not perform adequately and the company decided to replace it.

Production is now expected to resume again by the end of the first quarter of this year. All repairs and replacements will be carried out by the FPSO operator.

It is worth mentioning that, while in operation, the 7-ATL-4HB-RJS well reached a production peak of 9.0 thousand barrels of oil.

The company emphasized that the interruption does not change the previously disclosed schedule for resuming production of the other two wells and reaffirmed its previous estimated daily average production for the field.

Located in Block BS-4, in the Santos Basin, Atlanta is a post-salt oil field situated 185 kilometres from the city of Rio de Janeiro, in water depths of approximately 1,500 meters.

Enauta Energia S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, is the operator of the Atlanta field with 100 per cent ownership.

The transfer of the 50 per cent stake previously held by Barra Energia was already authorized by Brazil’s Antitrust Agency (CADE) and is still subject to ANP approval.