Lula NE Pilot Project - An Ultra-Deep Success in the Brazilian Pre-Salt

摘要

This paper presents the successful history of Lula NE Pilot Project, a challenging megaproject with anrnaggressive time-driven schedule, faster than industry average, that demanded new technology developmentrnin a scenario of uncertainty. The area is part of the supergiant Lula field, located in the pre-salt regionrnof Santos Basin, Southeast Brazil, 300 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, in 2000 m water depth.rnIt is a joint venture with Petrobras as the Operator, and BG E&P Brasil and Petrogal Brasil as partners.rnThe project was designed as a Pilot aiming to test some new concepts for the production developmentrnin the pre-salt area. In terms of subsea gathering system, an innovative concept was deployed, combiningrnflexible flowlines lying on sea floor, with rigid steel catenary risers (SCR) supported by a buoy positionedrn250 m below sea level. The drainage plan considered eight oil producers, some of them with intelligentrncompletion, one gas / CO_2 injection well and five water alternating gas (WAG) injectors (two subsearnWAG manifolds were also installed). A balanced approach between data acquisition and facilitiesrnflexibility made possible to face the many reservoir and production uncertainties. Details of the developmentrnconcept will be discussed, as well as the main results obtained so far, highlighting the strategiesrnadopted in order to mitigate risks and the influence of the acquired information to the following projectsrnin the area.rnThe chartered FPSO Cidade de Paraty started production in June 2013, with an oil capacity of 120,0rnbpd, and a gas plant able to process up to 5 million m3/d of gas with 35% content of CO_2. Despite allrnchallenges faced, the project was delivered on time, with plateau attained in September 2014.