PetroRio SA is now operator of Frade field, a heavy oil and gas field in Brazil’s Northern Campos basin, following the close of its acquisition of Chevron Brasil Upstream Frade Ltda.
With the deal, PetroRio adds Chevron’s 51.74% stake in the concession to its pending agreement to acquire 18.26% from Frade Japao Petroleo, a joint-venture formed by Inpex and Sojitz. That deal, struck in October 2018, is subject to conditions and approvals. Petrobras holds the remaining 30%.
Frade currently produces 20,000 b/d. All producing wells have subsea completion and are connected via risers to the Frade floating production, storage, and offloading vessel—owned and operated by the concessionaires—which has the capacity to process as much as 100,000 b/d of liquids and can store 1.5 million bbl of oil. PetroRio said it will plan for the field’s redevelopment, which could include drilling campaigns and water injections. The company expects its production will increase by 11,000 b/d and 43 million bbl of oil will be added to its 2P reserves.
The field, which lies in 1,128 m of water about 125 km from Cabo Frio and 172 km from Polvo field, holds estimated reserves of 200-300 million bbl of recoverable oil. Its field structure is a low relief anticline spread over 20 sq km. It has two primary fault blocks containing three stacked reservoirs. First production was in June 2009. A crude oil spill stopped exploration in 2011 and a 2012 seep caused Chevron to voluntarily shut production before restarting in April 2013 (OGJ Online, Feb. 21, 2013; Apr. 17, 2013). Drilling and water injection operations were granted permission to resume in 2014.
As part of the deal, PetroRio gains participation in the Brazilian presalt, with the possible exploration of prospects analogous to the discovery in Roncador field, at a depth of 4,500 m, which could be included in new drilling initiatives planned for 2020.
The transaction includes a 50% operating interest in the deepwater CE-M715 block in the Ceara basin, a new frontier with oil potential, the company said.
PetroRio owns stakes in producing fields Polvo 100% and Manati 10%.
