Brazilian independent HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA announced plans to focus on the offshore Polvo field, in the Campos basin. HRT operates the field with 60% interest along with partner Maersk (40%).
In 4Q 2013, the National Petroleum Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP), approved a 60% participating interest sold in the Polvo field by BP Energy to HRT, concluded on January 8 of this year. HRT and BP Energy do Brasil Ltda (BP)’s Polvo field transaction amounted to $135 million. The agreement also included 100% membership interest in the Polvo A fixed platform, and a 3000hp drilling rig, necessary to operate the field.
During 2014, HRT will drill two production wells in Polvo. One of the wells will be sunk this year. Each will cost $35 million. The area purchased from BP in 2013 has 7MMbo in proved and not developed reserves, said Miton Franke HRTP - Participações S.A. (holding company) CEO. “We are in the process of revising mapping undertaken by BP and we are still considering drilling additional wells but this will depend on the analytical results by BP,” he said.
HRT sold its first shipments of oil from the field in the first quarter of this year. In January, HRT concluded the first crude oil offtake as the operator of Polvo field and sold 233,300 bbl.
Last March, a second crude oil shipment of 395,000 bbl was also sold, concluding 1Q 2014 with a total volume of 630,000bo. The average discount on the Brent value was approximately 10%, explained Franke. He added that “there is no intention to turn Polvo into an asset to finance or generate cash for activities in offshore Namibia and in the Solimões Basin, Amazon,” where the company also operates.
Franke told OE that “the gas is used in the FPSO Polvo (pictured) to generate energy. The oil is offloaded to another vessel every 35 to 45 days around 400,000 bbl.”
Current Polvo field production is approximately 11,000 bo/d through 10 producing wells that were drilled in the three different reservoirs, Franke said. Production facilities include a fixed production and drilling platform. The FPSO Polvo is a 24-slot platform and turret-moored. The vessel can handle up to 90,000 bo/d and has a storage capacity of 1.6MMbbl, Franke said.
Polvo field was declared commercial in July 2005 and achieved first oil in 2007. The total field production in 2013 was approximately 4.2MMbo. Additionally, HRT received the storage of the oil produced and not offtaken, stored in the FPSO, which totaled approximately 300,000 bbl.
A regional map of the Campos basin oil and gas fields, mostly oil fields, and Polvo field's location with respect to the other fields, lies on the producing trend of the Campos basin in shallow waters. Campos basin is responsible for around 85% of Brazil’s total oil output of around 2 MMbo/d.
Peter Howard Wertheim is an independent journalist based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He can be contacted at: [email protected]
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