(TN) The pre-salt completes 15 years of production in September with renewed vigor – and a perspective of expressive growth in the coming years. To get an idea, Petrobras plans to install 11 new platforms to produce in that layer by 2027. Since December 2022, the company has already put into production two new pre-salt systems – P-71 in the Itapu field and FPSO Almirante Barroso, in the Búzios field – and expects to start operating the third unit (FPSO Sepetiba, in the Mero field) by the end of this year.
Petrobras’ Strategic Plan for the period from 2023 to 2027 earmarked US$ 64 billion for investments in exploration and production activities, 67% of these resources will be allocated to investments in the pre-salt layer. With the new projects added to the units already in operation, the estimate is that the company will produce a total of 3 million and 100 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in 2027, with 2.4 million boed in the pre-salt layer ( Petrobras’ own share), which will represent 78% of total production. In the case of operated production (Petrobras + partners), the projection is that the volume produced in the pre-salt layer will reach 3.6 million boe in 2027.
Promising prospects for the Búzios field
The largest field in ultra-deep waters in the world industry, Búzios has presented excellent results. In June, the field reached an accumulated production of 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), just five years after it started operating. For comparison purposes, the Marlim field, in the Campos Basin, took 11 years to reach the level of 1 billion boe and the Tupi field, in the pre-salt layer, nine years.
Currently, the Búzios field operates with five platforms, all of the FPSO type: P-74, P-75, P-76, P-77 and Almirante Barroso. And the outlook for the future is very positive. Of the eleven new platforms scheduled for pre-salt by 2027, six will be destined for Búzios: FPSOs Almirante Tamandaré (scheduled for 2024); P-78 and P-79 (both for 2025); P-80 and P-82 (both for 2026), in addition to the P-83 (2027).
Mero Unitized Field: the third largest in the country
Another large pre-salt field is Mero, located in the Libra block, in the Santos Basin. Currently, the Mero field is home to the FPSO Pioneiro de Libra, with a capacity to produce up to 50,000 bpd, which operates the Early Production System (SPA 2), and the FPSO Guanabara, with a capacity to produce up to 180,000 bpd – and which it has already reached its production peak about eight months after the first oil. The unit reached a record monthly average production of 179,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) in February 2023.
In the second half of 2023, Petrobras expects to install the second definitive platform in the Mero field: the FPSO Sepetiba, with capacity to produce up to 180,000 bpd. By 2025, the company will put another two units into operation in that field, totaling four systems. Mero is the third largest field in Brazil, after Tupi and Búzios, also located in the Santos Basin pre-salt.
New platforms for the Campos Basin pre-salt
In addition to the Santos Basin, the pre-salt layer continues to expand in the Campos Basin. It was in the Jubarte field, in this basin, where pre-salt production began 15 years ago. And it is this same field that will receive the FPSO Maria Quitéria in 2025, with capacity to produce up to 100,000 bdp.
At the same time, Petrobras remains committed to revitalizing its mature assets in the Campos Basin, expanding production capacity with the implementation of new systems. The Albacora field, for example, which completed 35 years of operation last year, will receive in 2027 the new FPSO for the Albacora Revitalization project, with capacity to produce up to 120,000 bpd – operating both in the post-salt and pre-salt fields. salt.
Technical capacity
“The 15 years of pre-salt production are the best proof of a Brazil that works. It is proof of the persistence and technical capacity of men and women who fought and did not give up in the face of the complex challenges they encountered. Our technical staff contributed to the development of unprecedented technologies to make production possible in the pre-salt layer, hand in hand with our partners, boosting the development of an entire market of highly specialized suppliers”, said Petrobras’ Director of Exploration and Production, Joelson Mendes.
“These are professionals who not only broke new ground, hitherto unexplored, but also turned it into one of the most important production hubs in the world. And all this success points to a promising future: we are going to put 11 platforms into operation in the pre-salt layer over the next five years that will guarantee the sustainability of our production – which proves the importance and magnitude of our performance in the pre-salt layer”, added Mendes.
Partnerships
The results achieved in the pre-salt layer – and the promising prospects for the future – are largely due to working in partnership with companies recognized for their technical excellence: Shell, TotalEnergies, Petrogal, Repsol Sinopec, CNOOC, CNODC, Petronas, QatarEnergy and PPSA.
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