An Overview of the Roncador Field Development, a Case in Petrobras Deep Water Production

摘要

The giant field of Roncador was by far the largest discovery made in Brazil in the 90's. Holding more than 3.3 billion boe in reserves and located in ultradeep waters - 1,500 to 1,900 meters - its development has set up new technological and economical frontiers for Petrobras's offshore production. Located in the northeastern portion of the Campos Basin, 125 km off the Brazilian coast (Figure 1), Roncador covers an area of approximately 110 square kilometers and is comprised of two main blocks, saturated with 18 to 31° API oil. Due to the differences in oil characteristics and to the massive reserves involved, PETROBRAS decided to develop Roncador in modules. This paper describes the track record since the discovery and presents the situation of the field a few months after two new floating units started production: semi-submersible P-52 and FPSO P-54. Petrobras main plans for two other modules in the coming future are also outlined.