The Libra oil field, located in the Santos Basin, Brazil, is one of the biggest deepwater oil discoveries in the world. The field is located in BM S11 block in the Santos basin, about 230km (140mi) north of the Tupi oil field and 200km south of Rio de Janeiro.
The BM S11 block lies in an area of about 1,547.76km2 at a water depth of about 2,000m (6,500ft), while the Libra field reservoir lies at a water depth of about 3,500m (11,500ft) below the sea level.
Libra is Brazil’s biggest oil field till date and is expected to produce about 1.4million barrels of oil per day by 2021. The field will be operated by Petrobras.
“The field development plan was approved in January 2014 and the first phase of development is expected to run until 2017.”
The field development plan was approved in January 2014 and the first phase of development is expected to run until 2017.
Reserves and production of the Libra oil field
The Libra offshore oil field contains recoverable resources of 7.9 to 15billion barrels of oil. The initial production rate is expected to be 25,000 barrels of oil per day per well.
Development details of Brazil’s biggest oil field
The field was discovered in May 2010 when a well, named 2-ANP-0002ARJS, was being drilled. The same well was planned to be tested, but had to be abandoned after facing mechanical problems. The field development will be implemented in phases.
The first phase will be an exploration phase expected to be completed by 2017. It will include 3D seismic studies, drilling and testing of two exploratory wells and one extended well, and other exploration activities.
“The two wells will be spudded in the second half of 2014 and are expected to be completed in the first half of 2015.”
The two wells will be spudded in the second half of 2014 and are expected to be completed in the first half of 2015. The extended well will be spudded for testing at the end of 2016.
The field will feature nine floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units linked to 92 production wells and 92 injection wells, and will have a processing capacity of 150,000 barrels of oil per day.
The field will have an initial flow rate to produce 25,000 barrels of oil per day from each well.
Contractors involved with the Libra field development
The reserves estimation studies for the field were performed by the Gaffney, Cline & Associates.
The Brazilian state regulator of oil sector, Agência Nacional do Petróleo (ANP) selected a consortium headed by Petrobras, in October 2013, to develop the field under a 35 year production sharing contract. The consortium partners include Shell (20%), Total (20%), CNOOC (10%), CNPC (10%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA). Petrobras signed the exploration and production agreement for the field in December 2013.
