Petrobras starts producing oil in Northeastern Brazil

Petrobras announces that the Piranema field, 25 km off the coast of Sergipe, started producing oil in deep Northeastern Brazil waters. With operations going online in this field, Petrobras is taking another step towards maintaining Brazil’s oil self-sufficiency. The Piranema oil, of excellent quality, at 44º API, is the lightest oil produced in deep waters in Brazil.

Enormously important for the Northeastern region’s economy, this type of oil is essential for lubricant production. With operations being kicked off in Piranema, Petrobras sets the stage for other Northeastern states to also start exploring oil at greater depths.

The new field will initially produce 10,000 barrels of oil per day, a figure that may reach 30,000 in 2008. When it is at its full capacity, this field will boost Sergipe’s oil production by 60%. Chartered from Norwegian corporation Sevan Production AS, this platform is an FPSO-type unit (which produces, stores and offloads oil).

The new platform has unprecedented technical characteristics: the round hull, unlike the traditional floating systems, is more versatile and stable, rendering it safer for the operations. Chartered for an 11-year term, during the first phase of the project it will be anchored in the northern portion of the field, at a water depth of 1,090 meters, and will be connected to six wells.

During the second phase, meanwhile, it will be moved to the southern area of the same field, and be connected to three other wells at a depth of 1,560 meters.