By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 11 -- Statoil started producing heavy oil from Peregrino field off Brazil. The company plans to gradually ramp up production to a plateau of 100,000 boe/d.
Peregrino lies in 100 m off water 85 km off Brazil in the Campos basin on licenses BMC-7 and BMC-47.
The first development phase includes two drilling and wellhead platforms and a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel.
The company plans to drill 30 horizontal production wells and 7 wells for injecting produced water back into the reservoir for recovering an estimated 300-600 million boe. The oil reservoir lies at a 2,300 m depth below sea level.
The field was discovered in 1994. Statoil (Hydro ASA) acquired a 50% stake in the discovery in 2005, and the remaining 50% and its operatorship from Anadarko Petroleum Corp. in 2008 (OGJ Online, May 4, 2008). Peregrino's development plan was approved by the Brazilian authorities in 2007.
In May 2010, Statoil sold a 40% stake in Peregrino to the Sinochem Group. The closing of the transaction is pending governmental approvals.
Statoil is currently drilling an exploration well at Peregrino South to explore for additional potential in the area. Following completion of this well, it plans to drill one additional well in the area.
