On March 4, Petrobras set yet another daily oil production record in Brazil: 2,012,654 barrels, a mark that surpasses the previous Record, set on December 25, 2007, by 12,420 barrels. This result is the outcome, mainly, of three new production platforms going on stream, in the past few months, in the Campos Basin (state of Rio de Janeiro): the P-53 and Cidade de Niteroi, in the Marlim Leste field; and the P-51, in Marlim Sul. Another factor that contributed to this record was the good performance achieved by platforms P-52, which reached its peak production in the last quarter of 2008, and P-54, which has been increasing its production in the past few months. Both platforms are installed in the Roncador field, in the Campos Basin.

When they reach their peak production, the three new platforms will add 460,000 barrels per day to the installed domestic field capacity. The Cidade de Niteroi vessel platform, which went online last month in the Marlim Leste field, in the Campos Basin (state of Rio de Janeiro), will be capable of producing up to 100,000 barrels per day (bpd). Additionally, platforms P-51, which started operating last January, and P-53, in December 2008, will contribute with up to 180,000 bpd each when in full production.

Onshore production also contributed to the daily record that has just been set. The average lifted from onshore fields has hovered around 230,000 barrels of oil per day, a volume that has been being maintained in the past few years thanks to the new technologies the company has been developing to increase the useful life of mature fields.

The pace at which new production systems go on stream in Brazil will gain momentum in 2009. The consortium formed by Petrobras (operator, 65%) and Petrogal (10%) will put platform vessel BW Cidade de Sao Vicente into production in May. It will be used for the Long-Duration Test (LDT) of the Tupi accumulation, in the Santos Basin's pre-salt layer. Production will begin with a well capable of producing 15,000 barrels per day. The Tupi LDT will analyze, among other information, how the production reservoirs behave, fluid movement or draining, and submarine outflow.

Furthermore, two new oil platforms and one non-associated gas platform will go online this year. In May, platform vessel Cidade de Sao Mateus will go on stream. It was designed to produce up to 10 million cubic meters of gas per day, in the Camarupim field, in the Espirito Santos Basin. In June, the consortium formed by Shell (operator, 50%), Petrobras (35%), and ONGC (15%) will put FPSO Espirito Santo into operation in the Espirito Santo portion of the Campos Basin. The platform will be capable of producing up to 100,000 bpd. In the following month, the consortium formed by Chevron (operator, 51.7%), Petrobras (30%), and Impex (18.3%) will put FPSO Frade online in the Campos Basin (state of Rio de Janeiro). The unit will be able to produce up to 100,000 barrels per day.

Tags: Petrobras