Project Profile
Value: US$500 million
Location: 190km off the coast off of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Start-up Year: 2015
Water Depth: Range from 2,600 to 2,900 metres
Estimated Resources: 700 MMbbl of light crude and 3 tcf of gas
Located in the deepwater Campos Basin, Block BM-C-33 is operated by Repsol Sinopec Brasil and its consortium partners are Statoil and Petrobras. Water depths range from 2,600 to 2,900 metres and the block lies approximately 200 kilometres off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state. The contract value is approximately US$18.12 million and work is expected to commence in Q3 of 2013. The exploration block is located 190km off the coast off of Rio de Janeiro. The discovery of two levels of good quality oil is being regarded as the most significant find in the pre-salt area of the Campos basin.
Despite the ultra deep water conditions, the challenge to develop such pre-salt offshore oil and gas fields relies on the export of gas. The large quantity of associated gas requires the engineering companies working on the feasibility studies to find the most cost effective solution for the monetization of the natural gas. Since 2012, KBR and WorleyParsons envisaged all kinds of solutions for this Block BM-C-33 development so that Repsol-Sinopec and its partners, Statoil and Petrobras, are now voting for a conventional scheme based on:
- Offshore platform or Floating production, storage and offfloading (FPSO) vessel
- Gas export pipeline to shore
- Onshore gas central processing facility (CPF)
The offshore platform option could well be a SPAR type of tension leg platform (TLP) type. A SPAR should be the first one of that kind in Brazil and rises questions about local content capabilities. Instead a FPSO design should be more conventional for Brazil. However this offshore platform or FPSO should have a treatment capacity up to:
- 150,000 barrels per day (b/d) of oil
- 700 million cubic feet per day (cf/d) of gas.
The final size of the offshore production unit will depend on further discoveries in the Seat reservoir in the Block BM-C-33. Promon is still working on the feasibility study on the best way to export and treat the natural gas with the gas central processing facility that could be located in Macae. These feasibility studies for the Pao de Acucar offshore platform or FPSO and Macae gas treatment facilities are well enough in progress to allow Repsol-Sinopec to call for tender the FEED contracts to develop the Block BM-C-33.
Operators:
Partnership which has Operatorship with 35% interest:
Repsol
Sinopec
Statoil: 35% interest
Petrobras: 30% interest
Contractors:
Consortium carrying out independent conceptual engineering studies:
WorleyParsons
KBR
Fugro: Provide geophysical, geotechnical and metocean services
Ocean Rig: Drilling contractor