Petrobras unveils plans to invest $16 bln in ‘largest revitalisation project in the offshore industry worldwide’

Brazilian oil and gas giant Petrobras has revealed its intention to invest $16 billion in the Campos Basin revitalisation project, planning to install three new FPSOs and interconnect more than 100 wells over the next five years. The company has also set its sights on investing $5.5 billion in oil and gas extraction activities, hoping to unlock new discoveries in Brazil.

Petrobras’ Executive Manager of Strategy, Eduardo Bordieri, announced last week during the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) that the company was planning to invest $16 billion in the revitalisation plan for the Campos Basin over the following five years, describing the basin as “the stage for the largest revitalisation project in the offshore industry worldwide.”

According to Bordieri’s statement, Petrobras will adopt new technologies in the coming years for the revitalisation of mature assets in the area and decommissioning of its oil platforms. The company’s  Executive Manager of Strategy explained that the Campos Basin accounted for about 25 per cent of the firm’s total production in 2021.

“The company projects to reach, in 2026, a volume of 900 thousand barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in that basin, with the entry into production of three new systems. This volume represents about three times the production that we would reach if we had not invested in the new platforms. In other words: without the new projects, our future production in the basin would be 300,000 boe,” explained Bordieri.
 
To increase production within this basin, the Brazilian state-owned player expects to install three new FPSOs in the region over the next few years. Petrobras elaborates that the FPSOs Anita Gabribaldi and Anna Nery will be installed in the Marlim field. Once they have successfully started production, the two FPSOs are expected to be capable of producing up to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd). Based on the firm’s statement, the FPSO Maria Quitéria with capacity for 100,000 bpd is the third planned unit, which will be installed in Jubarte, in the Parque das Baleias complex.

Furthermore, Petrobras aims to add a volume of 20 billion boe to its reserves by 2030 while 5 billion boe are expected to be added from assets operated by the company in the Campos Basin,  according to its Strategic Plan 2022-2026.

In a separate statement on the following day, Petrobras informed that the recent pre-salt oil discoveries in the Central Alto de Cabo Frio and Aram areas were opening up a scenario of new extraction opportunities for Brazil, as the discoveries were the result of the firm’s intensification of extraction efforts.

This has prompted the company to outline plans to invest $5.5 billion in this segment in the next five years, as explained by Bordieri, who made this announcement on Wednesday, 4 May 2022, when he presented the Petrobras perspectives on O&G double resilience panel during the Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce (Bratecc) Annual Breakfast Offshore, a parallel event to Technology Conference (OTC), in Houston (USA).

“All Petrobras investments aim for double resilience: both economic (considering financially viable projects with the Brent price at $35 in the long term) and environmental (projects with low carbon emmission),” explained Bordieri.

Regarding investments planned in Petrobras Strategic Plan for new production frontiers, the Southeast Basins – including pre-salt prospects – are expected to receive 58 per cent of resources; the Equatorial Margin 38 per cent, and the other areas 2 per cent.

Bordieri’s presentation also points out that a significant reduction in the pre-salt oil rigs’ building times is in the works while operational safety will be maintained. Petrobras reduced the building times from 100 days to less than 70 days on average between 2018 and 2021. The company intends to intensify these efforts and reach a reduction of 14 per cent in these times before 2024. This is expected to be accomplished with the aid of the firm’s drilling efficiency and completion program aside from the use of new, faster, and optimized models of oil rig setup.
 
“All reduction in oil rig building times equals preservation of operational safety, and reduction in costs tied to value generation. For reference, the oil rig activity represents about 30 per cent of investments in the extraction and production areas. We thus seek the best results in this activity, keeping safety and optimizing the oil rig setup in the fastest, most efficient way, always complying with the industry’s best practices in safety,” added Bordieri.

The Brazillian giant also plans to start the operation of 15 FPSOs in the next five years with ten of these to be installed in the pre-salt and five in the post-salt areas. Bordieri states that Petrobras has already put 32 FPSOs into operation throughout its most recent history, which he believes is a record in the oil industry.

“Petrobras is today the world leader in FPSO operation and is the company which will install the most platforms of this type in the next five years, generating value for our target publics,” concluded Bordieri.

When it comes to Petrobras’ most recent activities in Brazil, it is worth reminding that the state-owned giant started producing oil and natural gas through FPSO Guanabara earlier during the month. This is the first definitive production system installed in the Mero field, in the Santos Basin pre-salt off Brazil.

As reported by the company, Mero is the third biggest pre-salt oil field, which only lags behind Búzios and Tupi fields.