Petrobras will kick-off the production of the first oil in the pre-salt layer, in the Jubarte field, in the Campos Basin, off the southern coast of Espírito Santo. With this production, Petrobras will obtain knowledge that will help it develop the pre-salt reserves located in Espírito Santo and in other places off the Brazilian coast. To adjust to the characteristics of the light oil found in the pre-salt (30° API), it was necessary to make several small adaptations to the platform’s processing plant which, with the completion of well 1-ESS-103A and its interconnection to FPSO JK (P-34), involved investments in the order of some R$50 million. Production begins with a Long-Duration Test (LDT) to observe how pre-salt oil behaves, both in the reservoir and in the platform’s process plant. The LDT is expected to last six months to a year.

The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will participate in the ceremony that will mark the production of the first oil from the pre-salt layer, Brazil’s new oil province. The president and CEO of Petrobras, José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, and Company directors, will also attend the event, scheduled to be held aboard vessel platform JK (P-34), in the Jubarte field, southern coast of Espírito Santo.

FPSO JK (P-34), baptized in homage to former president Juscelino Kubitschek, has been producing oil in the Jubarte field since December 2006, in a reservoir located above the salt layer. The fact this platform is only 2.5 km away from the 1-ESS-103A exploratory well, which discovered the oil in the pre-salt, below the Jubarte Field, 1,375 meters below the water line, allowed production in the pre-salt layer in Espírito Santo to be anticipated.

In the past couple of years, Petrobras invested approximately R$1.7 billion in drilling 15 wells that reached the pre-salt layers. Eight of them have already been tested and revealed the presence of high commercial value light oil and of a large amount of associated natural gas. They have not been declared commercial yet, as they are still under assessment.

To reach the pre-salt layers, at depths of 5,000 to 7,000 meters, Petrobras developed new drilling projects that have crossed upwards of 2,000 meters of salt. The data obtained from these wells allowed the determination, with a high degree of safety, that pre-salt rock covers an area that ranges from Espírito Santo to Santa Catarina, measuring 800 km in length and 200 km width, at water depths of 1,000 to 3,000 meters.

FPSO JK (P-34) is deeply connected to the history of Petrobras and of Brazil. The vessel, used initially to import oil to Brazil as part of the famous Goal Plan (50 years in 5), was baptized in 1958 as the President Juscelino oil tanker. When JK’s political rights were revoked, the vessel’s name was changed to President Prudente de Moraes, and, later, to Petrobras-34. To anticipate Brazilian offshore field production, the vessel was converted into Petrobras’ first FPSO (floating, production, storage, and offloading vessel), kicking-off production in several Campos Basin reservoirs: Garoupa, Albacora, Barracuda, and Caratinga. In 2006, after undergoing adaptations at the Port of Vitória, it started producing in the Jubarte Field, where it was rebaptized in tribute to former president JK. The unit will now lift the first oil from the pre-salt layer, inaugurating a new era for Brazil.

Tags: Petrobras