Brazil
Global excellence in exploration and production in deep and ultra-deep waters
Oil and Gas Exploration and Production
Going increasingly deep and overcoming the challenge of producing oil in offshore fields. That is how we became a company that is internationally renowned for its global excellence in developing and applying exploration and production technologies for deep and ultra-deep waters.
By "exploring" and "producing", we research, locate, identify, develop, produce, and incorporate oil and natural gas reserves.
All of the experience we have accumulated and the technology we have developed attract interest from companies the world over, with which we sign exploration and production partnerships in Brazil and abroad.
The challenges we overcome drive us to face new ones. We seek to boost our performance in areas of great exploration and production potential, where our operating, technical, and technological qualifications represent a competitive edge.
The biggest oil reserves are currently on the continental shelf, in deep and ultra-deep waters. But we have never set onshore production aside.
The results that were obtained with onshore production in the past decade have remained constant, unlike what was to be expected in a mature area with a high degree of exploration. To achieve this, we developed new technologies to increase these fields' useful life.
Onshore production is concentrated, mainly, in Northern and Northeastern Brazil and, to a smaller extent, in the Southeast and in the Espírito Santo area. The average oil production in onshore fields is 210,000 barrels of oil and 17.9 million cubic meters of gas per day.
We work in a sustainable manner to increase oil and gas production and reserves. To optimize the recovery factor, we also adopt practices and new technologies in areas with high degrees of exploration. And we are now writing yet another chapter of our history: producing oil in fields nestled in the pre-salt layer.
Production Record in Exploration
About 65% of the area encompassed by Petrobras' exploratory blocks are located offshore and at water depths of more than 400 m. As a result, in the past few years, the company has expanded its exploratory drilling activities in increasingly deep waters.
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| Plataform | Year | Depth | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Enchova | 1977 | 2.629m | Post-Salt Layer Bears most of Brazil's reserves. |
| Pirauna | 1983 | 2.825m | |
| Marimbá | 1988 | 3.318m | |
| Marlim | 1992 | 2.930m | |
| Marlim Sul | 1994 | 3.230m | |
| Marlim Sul | 1997 | 3.167m | |
| Roncador | 1999 | 3.759m | |
| Roncador | 2003 | 4.343m | Salt Layer An irregular layer, the thickness of which ranges from 1000 to 2000 meters. |
| Pirauna | 2007 Santos Basin (Tupi) |
7.000m | Pre-Salt Layer On account of its geological characteristics, the pre-salt marks the beginning of a new exploratory model, one that will involve the use of technology that is more resistant both to corrosion and to high temperatures and pressure. |
Types of Platforms
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- Fixed Platforms
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These were the first units the Company used. They have been the preferred type for fields located at depths of up to 300 m from the water line.
Fixed platforms are usually composed of modular steel structures installed at the operating site with the use of curved stakes on the bottom of the sea.
Fixed platforms are designed to receive all of the drilling equipment, to stock materials, to lodge the staff, and to hold all of the facilities required for well production.
- FPSO Platforms
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FPSOs (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) are vessels that are capable not only of processing and storing oil, but of offloading it and/or natural gas as well.
A process plant is installed on the deck of the vessel to separate and treat the fluids that are produced by the wells. The oil is then stored in the tanks on the vessel itself and later transferred to a shuttle tanker from time to time.
The compressed gas is transported onshore by means of gas pipelines and/or reinjected into the reservoir. The larger FPSOs are capable of processing some 200,000 barrels of oil per day, with an associated gas production of nearly two million cubic meters per day.
- Drilling Vessel
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This type of platform is a vessel designed to drill submarine wells.
The drill tower is located in the middle of this type of vessel, where there is an opening in the hull through which the drill column passes.
The drilling vessel's positioning system, which is composed of acoustic sensors, propellers and computers, annuls the effects of the wind, waves, and of the currents that tend to displace the vessel from its position.
- Semi-submersible Platforms
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Semi-submersible platforms are composed of a structure of one or more decks supported on submerged floating columns. A floating unit is subject to movements caused by the action of the waves, currents and winds. Such movements might damage the equipment to be lowered into the well.
Two types of systems are used to position the floating unit: the anchoring system and the dynamic positioning system.
Semi-submersible platforms may or not have their own propulsion systems. Nonetheless, they are very mobile and are the preferred types of platform for exploratory well drilling.
- Jack-up Platforms (JUP)
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These platforms are composed, basically, of a barge equipped with a support structure, or legs, which, activated mechanically or hydraulically, move down until they reach the bottom of the sea. The platform is then risen to a safe height above the water line, away from the action of the waves.
These platforms are movable and can be tugged by towboats or equipped with their own propulsion systems.
They are used to drill exploratory wells on the continental shelf, at water depths ranging from 5 to 130 m.