SLB Scores Contracts for Dozens of Petrobras Wells

Energy technology company SLB has secured three contracts for up to 35 subsea wells in Petróleo Brasileiro SA’s (Petrobras) Buzios Wave II oilfield, covering completion hardware and services, SLB said.

The scope of the contracts includes SLB’s full-bore electric interval control valves and electric subsurface safety valves. The award is a catalyst toward full production system electrification for Petrobras, improving production availability via more reliable completions, SLB said in a press release.

By converting to electric completions, Petrobras will gain the ability to reliably control a more sophisticated system in the subsurface, SLB said. Full electrification of completions enables maximum production control across multiple reservoir drains, potentially requiring fewer wells and limiting heavy workovers during the productive life of the Buzios field wells, it explained.

“By leveraging the electrification and digitalization of completions from SLB, Petrobras will increase its field recovery efficiency in complex and challenging pre-salt reservoirs”, said Steve Gassen, President of Production Systems at SLB. “This contract award represents a critical milestone on Petrobras’ journey to digitally integrated offshore electric production systems. It will improve efficiency and deploy innovative technologies in Brazil”.

Much of the technology to be deployed in Buzios and available for other operators of Brazilian pre-salt fields was developed at SLB’s Taubaté Engineering Center in Brazil for Brazilian Pre-salt, in collaboration with CENPES, the Petrobras research center, and TotalEnergies, according to SLB.

The Búzios oilfield is in the Santos Basin, southeast offshore Brazil, with an average water depth of approximately 7,218 feet (2,200 meters). It is the world's largest deep-water pre-salt producing oil field, according to Petrobras. 

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