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Petrobras plans to develop Tupi field

Offshore

Peter Howard Wertheim
Contributing Editor

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Petrobras plans to install two production units every two years to produce pre-salt reserves in the Santos basin, beginning in 2010.

Petrobras has chosen Tupi to be the first of its pre-salt resources to be developed, beginning with long-term tests from March 2009, when it will turn out 30,000 b/d of oil.

There will be 11 platforms producing in Tupi in the future and there is an estimated future production of 1 MMb/d of oil from the pre-salt strata in Tupi field, according to assistant E&P director, Alvaro Costa. The field also will provide around 220 cu m (7,769 cu ft) of gas for each cubic meter (6.3 bbl) of oil extracted, Costa says.

Tupi is the only field in the pre-salt zone with known reserves of between 5 and 8 Bboe, compared with Brazil's proven reserves of 14.5 Bbbl. The sub-salt reserves extend over an 800-km (500-mi) stretch and may contain enough oil to propel Brazil to the status of a major world oil producer.