Petrobras, CNPC advance partnership on Comperj refinery, Marlim field

Robert Brelsford

Downstream Technology Editor

Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) subsidiary China National Oil & Gas Exploration & Development Co. have signed an integrated project business model agreement to advance a previously announced plan with CNPC subsidiary China National Petroleum Corp. International for formation of a strategic partnership to complete the 150,000-b/d Comperj refining complex in Itaborai, Rio de Janeiro state (OGJ Online, July 5, 2018).

The new business model agreement details steps of a feasibility study to evaluate the Comperj refinery’s current technical status, its investment case, and the remaining scope to conclude the refinery and business valuation, Petrobras said.

A joint team of CNPC and Petrobras specialists, as well as yet-to-be-identified external consultants, will conduct the studies, the operator said.

Once the full benefits and costs of this project are quantified, the next step would involve creation of a joint venture of Petrobras 80% and CNPC 20% to complete and operate the refinery.

As announced in July, the scope of the partnership, to be designed as an integrated project, also would cover CNPC’s participation in Marlim oil field cluster in the Campos basin off Brazil, which includes Marlim, Voador, Marlim Sul, and Marlim Leste fields.

Under the current agreement, Petrobras will retain an 80% in and remain operator of all these fields, the production from which perfectly fits the design crude slate to be processed by the high-conversion, heavy oil Comperj refinery, Petrobras said.

Alongside forming part of Petrobras’s broader program to revitalize its eastern Brazilian refining and logistics park, the planned partnership—implementation of which depends on successful negotiations of the final agreements as well as successful results of the Comperj feasibility study with the respective investment decision by the parties—also comes as part of the companies’ intention to strengthen their ties and contribute to deepen the global strategic partnership between Brazil and China.

Regarding the upstream segment, Petrobras said the proposed partnership will focus on the optimization of the Marlim field revitalization project and other projects related to Marlim Sul and Marlim Leste fields, which aim to optimize production of the mature fields.

Since 2013, Petrobras and CNPC have been partners in the Libra area of the Santos basin presalt layer, which was the first contract under a production-sharing agreement regime between the companies.

In Brazilian presalt tender rounds during 2017, a consortium formed by Petrobras 40%, CNPC subsidiary China National Oil & Gas Exploration & Development Corp. 20%, and BP PLC 40% also secured the Peroba block, which contains more than 5 billion boe of prospective resource in place and for which Petrobras acts as operator (OGJ Online, Nov. 3, 2017).