Project Profile
Value: US$3,000 million
Startup Year: 2013
Upstream Gas Reserves: 14,000 billion ft³
Water Depth: 150m
The project will see the development of four natural gas fields off the Venezuelan north-eastern coast, which have an estimated 11-13 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves: Dragon (4.8 tcf), Patao (4.4 tcf), Mejillones (3.3 tcf), and Rio Caribe (1.8 tcf). The project aims to produce 600 million cubic feet of natural gas a day initially, with production eventually rising to 1.2 billion cubic feet. The gas production from Dragon and Patao will be dedicated to the domestic market. The gas from Mariscal Sucre is expected to feed the second train of the Delta Caribe LNG project.
There will be two semi-sub rigs that will work on the development and a 110km pipeline will connect the Dragon field to Guiria, on the mainland. The Dragon field will include a maintenance platform and a main processing facility, which will dehydrate the gas offshore. This facility will sit in 130 metres of water with subsea tiebacks from eight wells on the Dragon and Patao fields. An early production system for the Rio Caribe and Mejillones fields will include a wellhead platform plus FPSO facilities capable of exporting 30,000b/d of condensate, also featuring gas reinjection units.
A phase two development will see a full field development with two further platforms and additional wells yielding 600 million scf/d as well as gas export line to shore.
PDVSA hired a new drill ship for the Mariscal Sucre offshore natural gas project after sending away the rent-a-wreck Neptune Discoverer and losing the semisubmersible Aban Pearl to the seafloor. The new machine, Songa Saturn, is like the earlier vessels the product of the late-70s oil boom rather than being a new and expensive piece of equipment.
Operators:
PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela SA): Operator with 60% interest
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC)
Petronas (Petroliam Nasional Berhad)
Sonatrach
Consortium of:
Rosneft
Surgutneftegaz
TNK-BP
LUKoil
Gazprom
Contractors:
Cameron: Subsea equipment and services for Dragon and Patao fields
Songa Offshore ASA: Drilling contract
Centro Empresarial INECOM: EPC - Field engineering
Saipem SpA: EPC - Dragon- CIGMA pipeline installation
SNC Lavalin Inc.: FEED - Early production system for the Rio Caribe/Mejillones development and project management contract
Technip: EPC - Dragon/Patao development and major procurement, installation and operation support, covering subsea, onshore and offshore facilities, for an accelerated production system