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He added: “Our projects are economically viable in the long term at lower oil prices, below $40 [per barrel]. We have very good projects, such as the one at the Búzios [field], and in terms of cash generation, we can cope with an average price of $25[perbarrel].”
Petrobras has been trying to raise money to pay debts by selling off some of its assets. Some industry observers and financial experts have cast doubt on this plan in the light of the decline in world oil prices, saying they are sceptical
about the NOC’s ability to achieve its aims under current conditions.
According to Castello Branco, though, the company is determined to proceed. He told CNN Brasil on March 16 that Petrobras did intendtopushforwardwiththesalesofsomeof its refineries this year, since potential partners had indicated that they were still willing to sub- mit bids. He did not name any of the companies involved but said investors had visited the plants and had begun the due diligence process.
Búzios field reports record high oil output
The Brazilian state-run oil and gas company Petrobras has reached a new output record at the Búzios oilfield. The site’s four platforms saw production levels rise to 790,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), including 640,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil, as of March 10, the firm said in a statement.
The field, which is located in the pre-salt San- tos Basin, was discovered about a decade ago. It is one of the largest deepwater oilfields in the world. Petrobras has described it as “a world- class asset, with substantial reserves, low risk and low extraction cost.”
Production at Búzios, which began in April 2018, has surged since the middle of last year. At that time, Petrobras fixed problems related to the four floating production storage and off-load- ing (FPSO) vessels it has anchored at the field. The company intends to launch production at another two platforms at the field between 2022 and 2024.
Currently, four FPSOs known as P-74, P-75, P-76 and P-77 are extracting crude oil from the
field. They are each capable of pumping up to 150,000 bpd of oil and processing 6mn cubic metres per day of gas at Búzios.
Petrobras is due to take Búzios offline tem- porarily in just a few weeks. Company officials confirmed last month that the field would be included in a large-scale maintenance pro- gramme that provides for closing down all the FPSOs in the sub-salt region for a period of 15-20 days.
The programme is designed to help Petro- bras check the functioning of subsea systems that can be corroded by contaminants such as carbon dioxide and sulphuric acid and that are subject to very high pressures. In turn, the results of the assessment will allow it to operate more efficiently.
Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras is trying to pay down its heavy load of debt and recover from an ongoing corruption scandal. Its plans for achieving these goals involve divesting non- core assets in order to focus on deepwater assets in the pre-salt zone.
The Búzios oilfield lies offshore in the pre-salt zone (Image: ANP)
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