40 Years in the Campos Basin Lead to Wealth of Lessons Learned
Authors: Carpenter Chris 
Published: May 2019

This article, written by JPT Technology Editor Chris Carpenter, contains highlights of paper OTC 28716, “Campos Basin Technologies Yard: 40 Years of Lessons Learned,” by M. Roberto, A.B. Coutinho, and A.R. Dos Santos, Petrobras, prepared for the 2018 Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, 30 April–3 May. The paper has not been peer reviewed. Copyright 2018 Offshore Technology Conference. Reproduced by permission.

Over the last 40 years, the Campos Basin has been a major stage for technology development to push offshore oil and gas production to water depths (WDs) never before experienced. This paper presents a retrospective of the most-significant technologies developed and deployed in the Campos Basin for more than 80 production systems in more than 30 oil- and gas-field developments; a few of these milestones are described in this synopsis.

Introduction

The discovery of oil in the Campos Basin in 1974 occurred in the context of the 1973 world oil crisis and its effects on geopolitics and the global economy. In addition to the challenges associated with this period, a need existed to increase oil production while reducing costs, leading to a fast-track approach. The development of the Garoupa field, followed by the Pargo, Badejo, Namorado, Enchova, Bonito, and Pampo fields, revealed huge oil-production potential, minimizing Brazil’s need to import petroleum. The development and application of new technologies, such as early production systems (EPS), horizontal wells, tree standardization, flexible pipes, and subsea processing and boosting, allowed the necessary cost reduction and risk mitigation. Now, most of these technologies are consolidated and are used in new Brazilian discoveries, particularly in presalt areas. To speed the development of these technologies, a deep- and ultradeepwater technology program, the Technological Development Program for Deep water Production Systems (PROCAP), was initiated in 1986. PROCAP and its four versions—PROCAP 1000 (1000-m well depth), PROCAP 2000, PROCAP 3000, and PROCAP Future Vision, have since supported the development of Campos Basin technologies and the exploration of new frontiers.

Technology Development

Many technologies have been developed in the Campos Basin during the last 40 years in order to support the production, developing, revitalization, life extension, and decommissioning of its fields. The Campos Basin development has become successful because of a strong partnership between the operator and suppliers, academia, research centers, and other operators. Despite the challenges faced during the last 40 years, the Campos Basin served as an excellent laboratory in which technologies, methodologies, internal programs, human-resource initiatives, suppliers and subsuppliers, university resources, and engineering and spinoff companies were developed to achieve and sustain the high production of these fields.

1971 to 1974: First Exploratory Wells Drilled and First Discoveries. The first exploratory well in the Campos Basin, named 1-RJS-1, was drilled in 1971 with a jackup-type rig at a WD of 49 m, which resulted in a dry well with no indications of hydrocarbons. In the following years, additional exploratory wells were drilled in WDs of greater than 60 m. The first indications of hydrocarbons were noticed in 1973 in another exploratory well, although it had no production potential. In fact, seven dry wells were drilled since the beginning of the well-exploration campaign.