Petrobras declares commerciality in presalt fields in Brazil

Offshore staff

RIO DE JANIERO – Petrobras has submitted its declaration of commerciality of the oil and gas accumulations of Franco and Sul de Tupi to Brazil’s National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP). These areas are part of the transfer of rights agreement and are located in the Santos basin presalt area. In the proposal sent to the ANP, the names suggested for the new fields were Búzios and Sul de Lula (South of Lula) for Franco and Sul de Tupi, respectively.

The volume contracted through the transfer of rights agreement for Franco area of 3.058 Bboe was confirmed in the exploratory phase. The presalt reservoirs in this field contain good-quality oil (26º to 28º API). During the execution of the Franco Mandatory Exploratory Plan, Petrobras acquired 3D seismic data for the entire area, drilled two mandatory wells and six additional ones, with the objective of delimiting and characterizing reservoirs. An extended formation test also was performed.

Búzios field is nearly 200 km (124 mi) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, wtih water depths from 1,600 m (5,249 ft) to 2,100 m (6,890 ft). The volume contracted through the transfer of rights agreement for the Sul de Tupi area, of 128 MMboe was confirmed during the exploratory phase. The presalt reservoirs in this field contain good-quality oil (27º API).

The Sul de Lula field is nearly 300 km (187 mi) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, at a water depth of approximately 2,200 m (7,218 ft). The production of Sul de Lula field will be made by the same production system planned for the Extreme South module of Lula field. The company forecasts the first oil of this system in 1Q 2017.

With the declarations of commerciality for the Franco and Sul de Tupi areas, the formal process to review the transfer of rights agreement starts. The review will take place on a block-per-block basis, taking into consideration the technical and economic premises of each area.

Petrobras has also submitted to ANP a declaration of commerciality for the Carioca oil accumulation, located in the Santos basin pre-salt. In the proposal sent to the regulatory agency, the consortium recommends that the new field, which is formed by reservoirs containing good-quality oil (of approximately 26º API), should be named as Lapa. With a total estimated recoverable volume of 459 MMboe, Lapa is one more large-size field discovered in Brazil’s presalt layer. The Lapa field is 270 km (167 mi) off the coast of the state of São Paulo at a water depth of 2,140 m (7,021 ft).

Along with the declaration of commerciality, the consortium submitted to the ANP the final report of its discovery evaluation plan, which was prepared as of the first well drilled in 2007. The 3D seismic data was gathered, five wells drilled, plus three formation tests and an extended well test were carried out in Carioca area.

Consortium BM-S-9 is operated by Petrobras (45%), in partnership with BG E&P Brasil (30%), and Repsol Sinopec Brasil (25%). After the declaration of commerciality, the Lapa Field Development Plan will be submitted to the ANP within 180 days. The company forecasts first oil for this field in 3Q 2016.

12/20/2013