A
long-standing
goal of
Petrobras
has been to
help Brazil
achieve
petroleum
self-sufficiency.
That goal
was finally
achieved in
April of
2006, when
Petrobras
started
production
from the
Albacora
Leste field
in the
Campos
Basin. At
full
capacity,
the P-50
floating
production
storage and
offloading (FPSO)
vessel will
produce
180,000
barrels per
day (b/d) of
19°
API heavy
crude oil,
bringing the
country's
production
to an
average 1.9
million b/d.
By 2010,
Petrobras
expects to
produce 2.3
million
barrels of
oil per day.
The
country's
oil
consumption,
meanwhile,
is expected
to grow at
an average
rate of 2.6
percent per
year through
2010 - when
consumption
should reach
slightly
more than 2
million
barrels per
day.
Recovery,
development,
and refining
Brazil is
encouraging
the use of
modified
FPSOs to
develop its
heavy oil.
For
instance,
the
dynamically
positioned
Seillean
FPSO was
upgraded to
handle heavy
crude in
very deep
water for
the Jubarte
field in
2002 and was
later used
to test and
produce an
extended
well.
Another FPSO,
the P-34,
was used as
an early
production
system for
this field
and has now
been
modified to
separate and
treat
60,0000 b/d.
The
country is
also
pursuing
technologies
to improve
heavy oil
recovery.
According to
the Society
of Petroleum
Engineers (SPE),
costs for
using a
horizontal
well may
exceed two
or three
times that
of a
vertical
well, but
actual
recovery can
be 15 or 20
times
greater.
Brazil is
working on a
long
horizontal
well with
sand
production
management
technology
for wells in
easily
pulverized
rocks. The
multilateral
well is
expected to
save time
and money,
but it
remains a
risky
alternative.
Because
heavy oil
development
poses
several
challenges
from
discovery to
refinement,
Petrobras'
Cenpes
research and
development
center
launched the
PROPES
program to
improve
heavy oil
production.
The PROPES
team will
upgrade
current
FPSOs, heat
management
and
separation
systems,
multilateral
wells,
horizontal
wells, and
artificial
lift
systems. In
addition,
the
researchers
plan to
develop
compact
separation
systems for
existing
production
facilities
because the
weight and
limited
space on
offshore
production
units
complicate
heavy oil
production
offshore.
The
PROPES team
is looking
to upgrade
existing
artificial
lift
technologies
for viscous
oils in
high-flow
wells . This
method is
used to
increase
reservoir
pressure
during oil
production
when the
pressure
begins to
drop. It can
be in the
form of a
pump or a
gas injected
through
gas-lift
valves.
On the
refining
front,
Brazil's 13
oil
refineries
can process
approximately
1.9 million
b/d, but
they have
traditionally
focused on
lighter
crudes. To
compensate
for their
limited
capacity to
handle the
heavier
crudes that
have become
more
prominent in
the past
decade,
Brazilian
refiners
have had to
swap heavy
crude for
lighter
imported
crudes.
Petrobras,
which owns
11 of the
country's
refineries,
is working
to keep more
Brazilian
heavy crude
processed
domestically.
The company
has embarked
on an
$11.4-billion
program to
double its
heavy oil
refining
capacity,
improve oil
product
quality, and
make related
safety and
environmental
upgrades. A
significant
feature of
this program
is a
$4.5-billion
heavy oil
refinery
that
Petrobras is
building in
northeastern
Brazil with
Petróleos de
Venezuela.
When
completed,
the facility
will be able
to process
from 150,000
to 250,000
b/d.
A
rewarding
strategy for
Brazil?
In 2006 and
2007,
Petrobras
and several
foreign
companies
together
spent
roughly $15
billion
either on
exploration
and
production
activities
or to
fulfill
contractual
obligations.
Petrobras
expects to
add 2.1
million b/d
of installed
oil
production
capacity in
the Campos
and Espírito
Santo basins
through 2008
alone. The
company's
plans are
not limited
to existing
discoveries,
however. Out
of the $34.1
billion it
intends to
spend on
worldwide
exploration
and
production
from 2006
through
2010, $28
billion is
earmarked
for projects
in Brazil.
As the graph
below shows,
59 percent
of the 317
domestic
exploratory
wells set to
be drilled
during this
time frame
will be
located in
the heavy
oil-rich
Campos,
Espírito
Santo, and
Santos
basins.
With its
eagerness to
find and
extract
heavy oil in
what are
largely
frontier
areas, along
with its
willingness
to enhance
its domestic
heavy oil
refining
capacity,
Petrobras is
clearly
bullish
about the
non-conventional
resource.
Whether this
aggressive
approach
will help
Brazil
sustain its
much-heralded
petroleum
self-sufficiency
remains to
be seen, but
the ongoing
changes in
the
country's
oil industry
will be
interesting
to watch.