Petrobras is offering a 50% stake in its Marlim complex located offshore Brazil in the Campos Basin. The deal is part of the company’s plan to optimize its portfolio, improve capital allocation, and shift its resources to deep and ultradeep waters.
Marlim is the third offer the company has made over the past five weeks following its notices for the Bahia Terra and Carmópolis clusters.
Petrobras is the operator for the four deepwater fields (Marlim, Marlim Leste, Marlim Sul, and Voador), owning a 100% stake.
The offshore development is the third largest in Brazil and fourth largest in the Americas by production, with potential for future activity including near-term field revitalization and pre-salt potential.
It’s also the largest post-salt development in Brazil with more than 20 billion bbl of original oil in place (OOIP) and includes licenses through 2052 with potential to increase the current production of approximately 120 million BOE/D by about 60%.
Marlim and Voador Fields
The Marlim and Voador fields, located about 150 km from Macaé, North of Rio de Janeiro state, occupy an area of 339.3 km2 with a water depth ranging from 400 m to 1050 m (1,312 ft and 3,445 ft). The fields share a production infrastructure and produced an average of 69,000 BOPD and 934,000 m3/D of gas from January to October 2020.
The fields also have an upcoming revitalization project to replace all existing platforms with two new floating production, storage, and offloading units (FPSOs). It includes the drilling of 13 new producers, one new injector, and the relocation 32 existing producers and 31 water injectors.
The project was approved in 2019 with FPSO contracts signed in Q4 2019. First oil from the revitalization is expected in 2023, with its peak expected by 2025.
Marlim Leste Field
Marlim Leste is located about 107 km from Cabo de São Tomé east of the Marlim field with a water depth of 780 m to 2000 m. Production averaged 30,000 BOPD and 615,000 m3 /D of gas between January and October 2020.
The field was developed in phases, utilizing FPSO Cidade de Niterói and floating production unit P-53. Its active wells include 12 producers, five water injectors, and one gas injector.
Development of its pre-salt accumulations and other exploration targets is expected to extend its field life.
Marlim Sul Field
Marlim Sul is located south of the Marlim and Marlim Leste fields about 90 km from the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro in water depth of 800 m to 2500 m. It produced on average 110,000 BOPD and 2 million m3 /D of gas between January and October 2020.
Plans for the field include development of the nonproducing pre-salt Poraquê Alto accumulation, and potential deployment of new production units in phase 2 to exploit its eastern and southern portions.
Further details of the sale and eligibility criteria are available online.