Equinor is very close to restarting production in the Peregrino field, in the southern part of the Campos basin. However, the date for restarting operations in the area has been slightly readjusted. The board of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) approved the postponement of the resumption of production in the field to August 31 this year. Previously, there was an expectation that the resumption of activities would take place in June, which did not end up happening.
As a reminder, production at Peregrino was suspended in April 2020, after the rupture of a flexible riser on the Peregrino A platform. As the problem was caused by corrosion, the oil company decided to repair seven risers, in addition to completely replacing the structures involved in the incident. Initially, Peregrino’s return was scheduled for January 2021, but the schedule was affected due to the restrictions imposed during the period of the covid-19 pandemic.
Subsequently, the resumption of production was scheduled for June 2022. It turns out that in March of this year, Equinor approached the ANP and asked for a further postponement, this time to July 31. The ANP’s Superintendence of Development and Production (SDP) suggested that the deadline be pushed back until August 31, giving Equinor an additional month. SPD technicians claimed that the deadline could be impacted by a new outbreak of covid-19 or by the need for additional activities that are pointed out in some inspection.
Equinor has been producing oil and gas in Brazil since 2011, when the Peregrino field came into operation, considered the company’s largest international offshore operation. Since then, the Norwegian oil company has produced more than 200 million barrels in the area.
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