Petrobras has announced it will start producing today the first oil from the pre-salt layer of the Baleia Franca field, which is located about 85 km from the city of Anchieta (state of Espírito Santo), in the Parque das Baleias area, on the north side of the Campos Basin.
The Baleia Franca Field´s pre-salt accumulations were discovered in December 2008. The Production will start through the connection of well 6-BFR-1-ESS to the FPSO Capixaba, chartered to Petrobras by SBM and previously operated in the Golfinho Field. Aiming to anticipate the production at the Cachalote and Baleia Franca fields, the platform was moved to Parque das Baleias, after some changes in its process plant.
The Baleia Franca pre-salt well will start producing approximately 13,000 bpd of light oil, estimated at 29º API. The full capacity of 20,000 bpd is expected to be reached by the end of 2010.
The project uses groundbreaking technologies designed to operate under the pre-salt geological characteristics, including new models of flexible risers and new technological solutions to the completion of the wells. The use of these technologies are expected to improve operational efficiency and safety.
The FPSO is part of the Project for the Integrated Development of Cachalote and Baleia Franca, interconnecting the two fields. The platform has already been producing since last May in the Cachalote Field´s pre-salt layer, through well 7-CHT-5HA-7-ESS, located 5 km away from Baleia Franca, and since June 2010 at well 7-CHT-7HP-ESS , with a total production of 44,000 bpd.
By the end of the year, the connection of the nine planned wells is expected to be finalized. There will be three flow wells and two injector wells at Cachalote, and three flow wells (two in the pre-salt layer) and one injector well at Baleia Franca. Production is scheduled to peak in December 2010, at an expected volume of 100,000 barrels of oil and 1.35 million m3of natural gas per day.
This is the first commercial oil from the Brazilian pre-salt and increases the expectation that more of the pre-salt plays will be coming omline in the near future.
Claudio Paschoa
Photo courtesy of Petrobras