Rio de Janeiro – Aiming to boost production and prolong the lifespan of oil fields rated mature, Petrobras will start testing a new offshore oil extraction system in November. The announcement was made this Wednesday (28) by the company’s Exploration and Production director, Guilherme Estrella. He attended information technology summit Rio Info 2011.
“We are implementing a prototype we call SSAO [Portuguese acronym for Underwater Oil-Water Separator], which will be put to test in November at the Field of Marlim [in the Campos Basin]. This is a new, groundbreaking, completely unprecedented technology. It will be linked to a well, separating water from oil, and it will send oil and gas to the rig.”
Estrella explained that the system should enable higher efficiency in recovering oil extracted from great depths, by bringing only oil and gas to the surface. “This is advantageous because the well is located 2,000 metres underground. Imagine going that distance carrying water, which is much heavier than oil. If the water is removed at the bottom of the sea, the rate of recovery becomes much higher, and that will boost production at the well.”
Another advantage, according to the Petrobras director, is the prolonging of production at mature wells, where a natural decline takes place. “We are betting high on that. If it works out, it will be an absolutely critical, decisive tool for improving productivity and maintenance of production at wells in the Campos Basin where production is declining. This has never been done by Petrobras and in these conditions, ocean-wise and oil-wise, it is the first of its kind in the world.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
