Production

Petrobras, Shell Start Production From Eighth Lula Field FPSO

The unit is flowing oil and gas from the Lula Extremo Sul area, 290 km off Rio de Janeiro state in 2150 m of water.

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The P-69 FPSO is a standardized production vessel with a capacity of 150,000 B/D of oil. Source: Shell.

Petrobras announced the launch of production from its operated P-69 floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel at the Lula Field in Brazil’s presalt Santos Basin.

The vessel, the eighth serving the field, is flowing oil and gas from the Lula Extremo Sul area, 290 km off Rio de Janeiro state in 2150 m of water. It will produce from eight wells and utilize seven injection wells, processing up to 150,000 B/D of oil and compressing up to 6 million m3/D of gas.

Hull construction was completed at Cosco shipyard in China. Integration of the modules and final commissioning of the unit were carried out at Brasfels shipyard in Brazil.

The P-67 FPSO will be the ninth floater to start production from the field, serving Lula North. Petrobras took delivery of the unit earlier this year.

Discovered in 2006, Lula is Brazil’s largest producing field, responsible for 30% of national output. It is part of the BM-S-11 concession in which Petrobras owns a 65% interest and partners Shell and Petrogal hold 25% and 10%, respectively.

“The Brazilian presalt fields are some of the best deepwater provinces in the world,” said Andy Brown, Shell upstream director. “With significant flow rates, deepwater Brazil projects are breaking even under $40/bbl.”

On the Libra block, where production started from the giant Libra Field in the Santos Basin late last year, Petrobras and Shell plan to deploy an FPSO from the deepwater Mero Field by 2021. Seventeen wells will be connected to the unit, which will have a capacity of 180,000 B/D of oil and 12 million m3/D of gas. The consortium recently awarded a contract to Aker Solutions for a subsea production system. Additional FPSOs from Libra block are planned.

Shell also plans development drilling at its operated Gato do Mato South field in the Santos Basin during 2019.

The major’s Brazilian interests cover 14 deepwater FPSOs, including its operated BC-10 and Bijupira-Salema FPSOs in the Campos Basin. 

Shell recently expanded its presence in the country’s prolific offshore sector by taking blocks in the 4th presalt bid round in June and 15th licensing round in March. Its position currently spans 27 concessions and 2.7 million acres.