Roncador Field Explained

Roncador
Location Map:	Brazil
Coordinates:	-21.977°N -39.781°W
Relief:	yes
Location:	Campos Basin
Block:	P-36^[1]
Offonshore:	Offshore
Operator:	Petrobras
Discovery:	1996
Start Production:	1999
Peak Year:	2014^[2]
Oil Production Bbl/D:	460000
Est Oil Bbl:	3000
Formations:	Upper Cretaceous^[3]

Roncador oil field is a large oil and gas field located in the Campos Basin, 125km (78miles) off the coast of Brazil, northeast from Rio de Janeiro. It covers a 111km2 area and reaches depths between 1500mand1900mm (4,900feetand6,200feetm).^[3]

History

The field was discovered in October 1996 and is located in P-36 block.^{[1] [3]} The operator Petrobras had been preparing for a deepwater technical challenge such as Roncador under its PROCAP (Petrobras Technological Development Program on Deep Water Production Systems) and PROCAP-2000 initiatives.^[4] The field is considered to be a major breakthrough. It involves world's first drill pipe riser, subsea tree and early production riser (EPR) rated for 2000m (7,000feet).^[5] Roncador has 53 production wells, 29 injection wells and is anticipated to peak in 2014.^[2]

Oil platform accident

Until 2001, the field was developed using Petrobras 36 oil production platform. In the early hours of March 15, 2001 there were two unexplained explosions in the aft starboard column. At the time there were 175 people on the platform; 11 were killed. Following the explosions, the platform developed a 16° list, sufficient to allow down-flooding from the submerged fairlead boxes. Marine salvage teams tried over the weekend to save the platform by pumping nitrogen and compressed air into the tanks to expel the water, but they abandoned the rig after bad weather. The platform sank five days after the explosions (March 20), in 1200-1NaN-1 of water with an estimated 1500t of crude oil remaining on board.

Ownership

The field is fully owned and operated by Petrobras.^[3] It is estimated that Petrobras will spend nearly $2.2 billion on a project finance basis.^{[6] [7]}

Reservoir

Roncador has 3 billion barrels of proven recoverable oil reserves. Due to its size the field was divided into four sections: Module 1 (28-31° API), Module 2 (18° API), Module 3 (22° API) and Module 4 (18° API) with subsequent division of the project into several phases.^[3]

Production

Field development on Roncador was divided into several phases:

• The Module 1
  • Module1, Early Production Phase started producing in January 1999 from a well 1853m (6,079feet) through FPSO Seillean. This phase was set to produce early in order to create revenue for the project to cover the huge costs for development of the whole field. Production during this phase was 20,000 bbl/d.^[8]
  • The Module 1, Phase One consisted of several subsea wells connected to semisubmersible production facility P-36 which started producing in May 2000, which sank on March 15, 2001, due to two explosions leading to human casualties. At that time, P-36 was considered to be world's biggest semisubmersible which produced 84,000 bbl/d and 1.3 MMcm/d of gas.^[8]
  • Module 1A, Phase One was started after the P-36 sunk on Module 1 to get the field producing as soon as possible. Eight production wells were connected to FPSO Brasil vessel moored in 1290m (4,230feet) of water. In December 2002, the field started producing again .
  • Module 1A, Phase Two included fabrication and installation of P-52 platform connected to 18 subsea production wells and 11 water injection wells. The $500 million engineering, procurement, construction and installation which included laying 221km (137miles) of flexible risers and flowlines, 161km (100miles) of umbilicals and 83km (52miles) of jumpers for the tie-back was contracted to Technip and Subsea 7.^{[9] [10]} Engineering and construction of P-52 platform which was built for a total cost of $1 billion was contracted to a consortium of Technip and Keppel FELS in December 2003. The platform became operational in November 2007 with 20,000 bbl/d peaking to 180,000 in second part of 2008. The peak gas production from this phase was 3.2 MMcm/d.
• Module 2 development consists of 17 long horizontal wells 11 of which are production wells and 6 - for water injection. Considered one of the largest in the world and weighing 66,224 tonnes, the P-54 FPSO vessel was assigned for production from Module 2. P-54 was converted from VLCC Barao De Maua large carrier at a $628 million contract with Jurong Shipyard, a subsidiary of SembCorp Marine and a $25 million subcontract with Aker Solutions which provided the processing equipment for the vessel. It became operational on December 11, 2007. This phase of the project boost the overall production from the field to 460,000 bbl/d.
• Module 3 development consists of 11 add-on and 7 water injection wells and includes the P-55 with production capacity of 180,000 bbl/d and gas compression capacity of 6 MMcm/d. The platform is expected to start production in 2011.
• Module 4 will have the capacity to produce 180,000 bbl/d and compress 6 MMcm/d of natural gas.^[3]

See also

• Petrobras 36 Oil Platform
• Campos Basin
• Santos Basin

External links

• Petrobas official site
• The Seillean FPSO vessel at Early Production Phase (from Offshore Technology)
• Map of Roncador field showing the Modules (from Rigzone)

Notes and References

1. http://www.subsea.org/projects/listdetails.asp?ProjectID=131 Subsea Oil & Gas Directory. Roncador Field Development
2. http://www2.petrobras.com.br/ri/ing/DestaquesOperacionais/ExploracaoProducao/Roncador.asp Petrobras. The Roncador field - Development of oil and natural gas production
3. http://subseaiq.com/data/Project.aspx?project_id=348 SubseaIQ. Offshore Development Projects. Roncador
4. News: Accelerated development of Brazil's huge Roncador field - offshore oil field . World Oil . July 1998 . 2010-01-21.
5. http://www.fmctechnologies.com/en/SubseaSystems/GlobalProjects/South%20America/Brazil/PetrobrasRoncador.aspx FMC Technologies. Petrobras Roncador
6. News: Petrobras to develop Roncador oil field . Alexander's Gas & Oil connections . 1998-08-05 . 2010-01-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080516043959/http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/company/cnl84068.htm . 2008-05-16 . dead.
7. News: Roncador to Begin Production in 45 Days . Business News Americas . 1998-11-11 . 2010-01-21.
8. http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/roncador/ Offshore Technology. Roncador. Campos Basin, Brazil
9. http://www.subsea7.com/cms/files/Roncador%20(PSS).pdf Subsea Field Development. Roncador project Overview
10. News: Subsea 7 Reels in Roncador EPIC Contract . Rigzone . 2003-10-23 . 2010-01-21.