Brazil’s drilling prospects remain buoyant
John Waggoner • Houston
A third well in the Tupi region of the Brazil’s Santos basin offshore reinforces estimates of the potential for 5 to 8 Bbbl of recoverable light oil and natural gas in the subsalt reservoirs in ultra deepwater. The well is being drilled toward deeper objectives.
Located 33 km (20.5 mi) northeast of the pioneer I-RJS-628 hole, the new well, called 4-BRSA-711-RJS (4-RJS-647), confirms good quality reservoirs of oil similar to that found before in Tupi, Petrobras says. Informally known as Iracema, this third well is in the Tupi Assessment Plan area, in waters where the depth is 2,210 m (7,251 ft) from the water line, some 250 km (155 mi) off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
The discovery was proved via light oil (approximately 30º API) samplings from reservoirs located at a depth of some 5,000 m (16,404 ft) and communicated to Brazil’s regulatory authority ANP. After completing the drilling, the consortium formed by operator Petrobras (65%), BG Group (25%), and Galp (10%) to explore block BM-S-11, where Tupi is located, will carry on with drilling other wells in the area.
In other news, Petrobras well 4-BRSA-709 (4-SPS-60), known as Iguaçu, has proven the presence of another accumulation of light oil in the BM-S-9 concession in the Santos basin, the company says. Further evaluation will continue with the drilling of another well in this evaluation plan area to begin shortly, the company says.
Repsol also has a new gas and condensates find with the Panoramix well in the shallow waters of the Santos basin offshore Brazil.
The well is in block BM-S-48 in water depths of 170 m (558 ft). Production tests showed a maximum gas flow of 378,600 cm/d (13.37 MMcf/d) and 1,570 b/d of condensate in sands of between 4,410 and 4,480 m (14,469 and 14,698 ft). The results of these tests indicate a possible maximum flow of 850,000 cm/d (30 MMcf/d) of gas and 3,520 b/d of condensate, the company reports.
Ecopetrol Oil Gas do Brasil has signed a Participation Agreement with Anadarko Exploracao e Producao de Petroleo e Gas Natural for a 50% participation in the BMC-29 concession in Brazil. BMC-29 is in the Campos basin in water depths between 30 and 100 m (98 and 328 ft) and covers 179 sq km (69 sq mi). The concession was awarded to Anadarko during the sixth round of auctions in Brazil and it is currently in the exploratory phase.
Separately, US wellhead manufacturer Dril-Quip has a three-year, $180-million wellhead deal to supply Petrobras in Brazil. Petrobras also has awarded GE Oil & Gas a three-year, $250-million frame agreement to supply 250 VetcoGray subsea wellhead systems. The first unit is scheduled for delivery this month.
RoboSpider revolutionizes drilling riser tripping
A new robotic “spider” tool to run drilling risers represents a breakthrough for operational safety, efficiency, and even preload on offshore rigs.
Running risers is one of the most dangerous jobs on a rig, since personnel are exposed precariously over the moonpool for hours at a time and are at risk of falling objects from the deck above while they manually bolt together sections of pipe.
The new RoboSpider tool from Houston-based Cameron eliminates these hazards with a touch of a button while ensuring that each section of riser can be joined perfectly at a pace much faster than any human can achieve, according to Dale Francis, president of Torq/Lite and the developer of the technology.
“The RoboSpider is unbelievably accurate,” says Francis.
In operation, the robot engages all six modules around the flange simultaneously and tightens each bolt within programmable parameters. Instead of manually tightening each bolt in pairs at 180º, the RoboSpider spins the six bolts perfectly and all at once.
Apart from avoiding the potential for human error while joining sections of riser due to fatigue, poor light conditions, or simple mistakes, the RoboSpider translates into instant improvement in HSE conditions on the rig. Not only that, the robotic device offers an enormous advantage in terms of saving time.
“I believe we will save, conservatively, anywhere from six to 10 minutes on each flange while running. To pull the risers it will save even more time since this part of the job is particularly time-consuming and exhausting when done manually,” Francis says.
That means on a single run of 100 sections, the RoboSpider can save more than 16 hours of rig time. Counting the return trip, those savings would be potentially doubled.
“The sheer speed of the thing will save the price several times over per year,” Francis says. “It lets contractors focus on the drilling.”
Precision LVDT sensors and its ICAN software from Parker allow the robot to communicate between a central processor on the main control box and sophisticated modules on each arm. The instruments allow accuracy within +/- 3%, a parameter that would be difficult to achieve consistently with the best manual crew even during ideal dry and sunny operating conditions.
Francis began working on this project about two years ago when Cameron expressed interest in the technology. The Houston and Louisiana-based inventor holds the patent for today’s industry standard for running risers that he developed in the mid-1990s. “This is an automated version,” he says.
With the equipment currently in the advanced prototype stage, engineers are working to fine tune the RoboSpider for commercial deployment. Francis sees the RoboSpider becoming a new industry standard within a year.
Its elegant design is also user-friendly: an operator can learn to use the robot in a few hours of training, he says
“By the time it is installed, the operator pretty much knows how to run it,” Francis says. Installation should take less than a day.
