PRIO completes intervention in the Frade Field using own Hunter Queen rig

The sixth-generation semi-submersible rig, Hunter Queen, which has belonged to PRIO since July 2022, completed its first operation this month in the Frade field, in the Campos Basin. The rig has the capacity to drill in water depths of up to 3,000 meters and wells of up to 10,000 meters, and is also capable of carrying out maintenance and improvement operations in all of the company’s offshore fields.

“The rig’s first operation was a success. We completed an intervention in the MUP3B well in Frade, an important step in enabling another producing well in the field”, said PRIO Project Assets Manager, Leandro Brandão. The acquisition of the rig was part of the company’s strategy in search of efficiency, increasing the level of safety for employees and contributing to the preservation of the environment due to its most modern and effective technologies.

“The rig will be used in all our fields from now on, whether for drilling or maintenance of wells and production. It will have a strategic role in the beginning of the operation of the Wahoo field, which is expected to drill four production wells and two injectors to begin in the first half of 2024”, says the company’s Operations Director Francisco Francilmar Fernandes (photo on the right ).

The Frade field has just undergone the 2nd phase of the revitalization campaign, which also concluded in November, and has recorded a production increase of more than 250% since its acquisition. As a result of the initiative, it was possible to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 70% and increase the recovery factor of this asset by up to 30%. Among the initiatives that made this increase possible are the high performance and safety of the construction operations of new wells, the optimization of the installation of subsea system equipment, revamp of the water injection system and improvements in reservoir management. At the moment, it is undergoing some more studies that could define a new wave of revitalization.

The average production of this field in the last quarter was 56.6 thousand barrels per day and it is responsible for 55% of PRIO’s production. In 2024, this field will be interconnected via 35km tie-back with the new Wahoo asset, which has an estimated potential of 40 thousand barrels per day.