Brazil’s largest integrated energy firm, Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras (PBR) announced on Feb 20, 2014 that it has brought online the well 9-SPS-77, located in the pre-salt Sapinhoá Field in the Santos Basin.
The well – at a water depth of 2,118 meters – has a production capacity of 33,000 barrels per day (bpd). It is linked to Cidade de São Paulo, a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit, using a pioneering system.
The system, constructed and setup by Subsea 7, comprises a submerged buoy that supports the output pipeline riser. Located at a depth of 240 meters and anchored to the seabed makes the riser support buoy (RSB) resistant to platform movements. The buoy has the capability to stabilize pipelines from two injection wells and three production wells.
Petrobras has already connected two wells to the FPSO using this system. The RSB is the first of four buoys that Petrobras wants to set up for the pre-salt Sapinhoá and Lula fields in the Santos Basin. The second buoy at the Sapinhoá field is expected to be installed by first quarter end. The two buoys for the Lula field are expected to be set up by the end of next quarter.
Petrobras expects that after these new installations, the 120,000 bpd FPSOs Cidade de São Paulo and Cidade de Paraty, working at the Sapinhoá and Lula field respectively, should reach peak production levels this year.
Petrobras has a 45% stake in the Sapinhoá field and a 65% stake in the Lula field. The company acts as the operator in both these cases.
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras currently holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that it is expected to perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.
Meanwhile, one can consider better-ranked energy sector stocks such as Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN), Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (HP) and Matador Resources Company (MTDR). All these stocks currently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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