PetroRio creates first private mature fields cluster in Campos Basin

Brazilian oil and gas company PetroRio has concluded the tieback between the Polvo and Tubarão Martelo fields, making it the first independent company to create a private cluster of mature fields in the Campos Basin region.

PetroRio said on Wednesday that the tieback project between the Polvo-A platform and the Bravo FPSO was completed in 11 months, had a $ 45 million capex, and would enable an operational cost reduction of $50 million per year for the company.

This decrease accounts for the Polvo FPSO’s lease, currently chartered to the field and operated by BW Offshore as well as maintenance and diesel expenses. The total operating cost for the cluster was at $120 million per year and is now reduced to approximately $70 million per year.

According to PetroRio, the cost reduction of the new cluster will allow more oil to be recovered for a longer period, increasing considerably the recovery factor of the fields. The cluster has economic life until 2037, representing an extension of 10 years for Polvo and 12 years for Tubarão Martelo.

The Bravo FPSO, built and delivered to the Tubarão Martelo field in 2012, has high operational reliability and oil processing and storage capacity, allowing higher operational efficiency for the Polvo Field.

From an environmental perspective, these synergies will reduce the cluster’s emissions by 26 per cent after the tieback’s conclusion, making a more sustainable operation, with less impact on the environment.

As of this date, PetroRio holds the right to 95 per cent of the Polvo and Tubarão Martelo oil, until the first 30 million cumulative barrels of oil produced and 96 per cent of the cluster’s oil thereafter. PetroRio will also be responsible for 100 per cent of the operational cost, capex, and field abandonment costs.

The tieback between the Polvo-A platform and the FPSO Bravo is 11 kilometres long, comprising 22 kilometres of installed lines, between the flowline and the electric umbilical. During the project’s final phase, two scheduled shutdowns were carried out, lasting 10 days in Polvo and 7 days in Tubarão Martelo for adjustments to the electric system, the production lines, and oil and water processing facilities.

Worth noting, the tieback was announced in February 2020 following the acquisition of the OSX-3 FPSO and the farm-in to Tubarão Martelo, where the vessel is currently chartered. 

Going forward, PetroRio’s production team will be focused on adjusting and stabilizing the Polvo Field’s production at the Bravo FPSO.

In parallel with the tieback project, the Kingmaker rig is finishing the TBMT-8H well workover within the next few days and will then begin the completion of the TBMT-10HP well, expected to be concluded in September 2021.

In recent company news, PetroRio announced on Tuesday that it hired Ocyan Drilling’s semi-submersible rig for the Frade field revitalization campaign and the Wahoo field development.

The company hired the Norbe VI drilling rig, and the contract would begin in March 2022. The rig will drill three wells on the Frade field – one producer and two injectors – followed by the drilling of four producer wells on the Wahoo field.