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PRIO starts production from the first well drilled by the Company in Frade, doubles the asset’s production and increases the company’s production by 45
Rio de Janeiro, July 11, 2022 – PRIO (B3: PRIO3), Brazil’s largest independent oil and gas company and a pioneer in recovering and increasing the useful life of mature fields, has just started production from the first well of the Frade Field Revitalization Campaign (ODP4), in the Campos Basin. The well is still being stabilized, but initial production is already 15,000 barrels per day, doubling the asset’s capacity and bringing PRIO’s average daily production to 48,500 barrels of oil, a 45% increase. This is the first well of the Frade Revitalization Campaign.
The project was executed in 68 days, 22 less than initially planned, including drilling, completion, and subsea connection, well ahead of initial projections, resulting in a 30% reduction in the value budgeted for the well.
The construction of the well was carried out in a process divided into five phases and a conservative project, in view of the geological and historical characteristics of the field. ODP4 becomes the second fastest well drilled in the Frade field and PRIO’s first deepwater well.
“The realization of our planning for Frade is only just beginning. This successful operation was executed with maximum safety and efficiency, which ensured that more than 3,600 days without lost-time accidents were maintained. It is another important step for the growth of PRIO and for it to establish itself as the largest independent oil and gas company in Latin America,” celebrates PRIO’s operations director, Francilmar Fernandes.
The efficiency of this operation with this representative reduction in time and cost, led PRIO to anticipate the drilling of a second producing well that was planned for the second phase of the Frade Revitalization Campaign, the MUP3A. This new well, expected to produce around 3,500 barrels of oil per day, will have a much lower CAPEX than the ODP4 well, since it will use the subsea structure and part of the MUP3 well (currently without production).
“The results obtained with ODP4, so far, reinforce that the Frade field still has a lot of potential. Additionally, the efficient execution of this project allows us to advance the schedule of the first phase of revitalization of this field, which now has four wells (2 producers and 2 injectors) maintaining the same CAPEX. We are very excited about what is to come. We are doing more with less and operating at maximum efficiency,” explains Fernandes.
Frade is located 121 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, has estimated reserves of 60.4 million barrels of heavy oil and an estimated abandonment date of 2,054. PRIO has been the operator of the field since 2019, when it acquired the asset that was operated by Chevron (51.7%), Petrobras (30%) and Frade Japan Petroleum (18.3%) as partners.
About PRIO
PRIO is the largest independent oil and gas company in Brazil, a pioneer in recovering and increasing the useful life of fields in production. With its assets located in the Campos Basin, the company seeks operational efficiency with process optimization, the use of new technologies and innovative solutions that aim to reduce costs, always with the premise of excellence and safety in operations. PRIO has been growing through acquisitions. Thanks to the constant positive results, it had a strong appreciation, becoming part of the B3 index, the main Brazilian stock exchange index in 2020.