Offshore staff
RIO DE JANEIRO – Petrobras and partner Chevron have started oil production through the Papa Terra field FPSO P-63 in the Campos basin offshore Brazil.
The location is in block BC-20, 70 mi (110 km) southeast of Rio de Janeiro in water depths ranging from 400-1,400 m (1,312-4,593 ft).
Papa Terra, discovered in 2003, is a heavy-oil field with reservoirs containing 14-17° API crude. Petrobras claims this has been one of its most challenging projects to date, demanding various novel solutions.
The FPSO was a former oil tanker, converted at theCOSCO Shipyard in China with the last stages of construction performed at Canteiro da QUIP/Honório Bicalho in Rio Grande, Brazil, by Quip (Queiroz Galvão, UTC, Iesa and Camargo Correa), and BW Offshore.
Its hull is 340 m (1,115 ft) long, 58 m (190 ft) wide and 28 m (92 ft) high, and supports topsides (deck/module) that weighs 18,500 tons. It has the capacity to produce up to 140,000 b/d of oil, to compress 1 MMcm/d (35 MMcf/d) of gas, and to inject 340,000 b/d of water.
The vessel will be connected to five producer and 11 injector wells using flexible subsea pipes with electric heating (integrated production bundles).
Brazil’s first tension leg wellhead platform,P-61, also will operate in the area, connected to 13 producers, all dry completions, with control valves on the platform. It will be towed to its final location this month and is expected to start operations in 2014.
All 18 Papa Terra producer wells will be equipped with submersible centrifugal pumps. Output fromP-61 will be transferred via multi-phase flow to the FPSO.
P-61 will be supported by a tender assisted drilling rig, to be towed from China over the next few days. Produced oil will be offloaded using shuttle tankers and excess gas not used on the offshore facilities will be reinjected into a nearby reservoir.
11/13/2013
