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PRIO successfully completes the connection between the Octopus and Hammerhead Shark fields
On 13/07/21, PRIO concluded the tieback between the Polvo and Tubarão Martelo (TBMT) fields, one of the most important steps in its plan to revitalize the two assets.
With the conclusion of this stage of the plan, the decommissioning process of the FPSO Polvo will begin, to be replaced by the more modern and efficient FPSO Bravo, owned by PRIO itself.
FPSO Bravo
FPSO Bravo is operated by PRIO and production from the two fields will be integrated, creating a private hub in the region.
With the investment made, PRIO generates significant synergies, reductions in the cost of production (lifting cost), reduction of risks and of pollutant emissions per barrel produced, and the extension of the economic life of the two fields.
“The project reduces the combined operating costs of the two fields by about $50 million per year. Lifting costs could be reduced to less than US$12 per barrel as a result of the air, sea and land synergies and the decommissioning of the FPSO that was leased to Polvo. The TBMT field was acquired for this purpose, it alone was not economical. The project is innovative especially from the point of view of its business model and should be replicated for other assets,” explains PRIO’s CEO, Roberto Monteiro.
The reduced costs of the new hub will allow more oil to be recovered in the reservoirs and over a longer period.
Monteiro estimates that the economic life of both assets will be extended until 2037, representing an extension of more than 15 years and an increase of 40 million barrels to the reserve of the Polvo Field.
“It’s another 15 years generating jobs and royalties for the states and municipalities involved,” he recalls.
The tieback between Octopus and TBMT has been studied extensively by the PRIO technical and executive teams over the past few years. From conception to execution, the entire project took 11 months and cost an estimated $45 million.
Technologies developed for similar projects have been extensively applied by the oil and gas industry in fields in the Gulf of Mexico and North Sea.
From the environmental point of view, the synergies will reduce the absolute emissions of the pole by approximately 30%, contributing to an operation that is increasingly adhering to the growing social demands from the point of view of sustainability.
It is worth noting that, in the context of efficiency and innovation, this is the first tieback connecting two production units run by a private and independent company in Brazil, reinforcing PRIO’s operational track record and technical excellence in the face of the challenges that this independent industry seeks to solve in the country.
“The eleven kilometer interconnection between Polvo and TBMT will result in significant projects and unprecedented opportunities for PRIO. These challenges are intrinsically inserted into the Company’s C.R.P. technology, which consists of cost rationalization techniques (C), focus on reservoir management (R), and redevelopment, aiming to increase production (P), and have as objectives the increase of recoverability and the extension of the economic life of the fields, always valuing safety and the environment,” added Monteiro.
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