Petrobras Starts Up Deepwater Lapa Field
Petrobras and its partners in the BM-S-9 consortium have started oil and natural gas production at the Lapa field in the Santos basin presalt layer through the FPSO Cidade de Caraguatatuba.
This is the third unit to enter operation in the presalt this year, Petrobras said, claiming the 11th largest definitive system operating in this layer. In addition, Lapa is the third presalt field of the Santos basin to start production, after Lula and Sapinhoá.
Located approximately 270 km (168 mi) offshore São Paulo state, in 2,140 m (7,021 ft) water depth, this FPSO has the capacity to process 100,000 b/d of oil, compress 5 MMcm/d of gas, and has an oil storage capacity of 1.6 MMbbl. It is interconnected to the Lapa field through production well 7-LPA-1D.
The Lapa field is located in the BM-S-9 concession, operated by Petrobras (45%), in partnership with BG E&P Brasil, a subsidiary company of Royal Dutch Shell plc (30%), and Repsol Sinopec Brasil (25%).
Petrobras said its operated oil production in the presalt has exceeded 1.2 MMb/d.
In November, it reached the historical mark of 1 Bbbl of oil produced in the layer, thanks to the start-up of 10 large production systems in six years.
-PSA Norway Approves Eni Exploratory Drilling
Eni Norge AS has received consent from Petroleum Safety Authority (PSA) Norway to drill well 7318/12-11 in the Barents Sea Boné-Bigorna prospect. The well is to be drilled using Saipem SpA’s Scarabeo 8 ultra-deepwater semisubmersible.
Eni is the operator of production license 716, in blocks 7318/11 and 7318/12.
The PSA said that the drilling location is around 320 km (199 mi) northwest of Hammerfest. Water depth at the site is 418 m (1,371 ft). The drilling work is scheduled to take 55 days.
The Scarabeo 8 was issued with an Acknowledgement of Compliance from the agency earlier in May 2012.
Meantime, Centrica has awarded Subsea 7 S.A. an EPCIC contract for the Oda field in the Norwegian North Sea.
The contract scope consists of engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and commissioning of subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines including the production pipeline, water injection line, umbilical, and related subsea services.
Discovered in 2011, Oda (ex-Butch) is about 14 km (9 mi) east of the BP-operated Ula complex.
Project management and engineering will begin immediately from Subsea 7’s office in Stavanger, Norway, with offshore operations scheduled to start in 2018.