FMC to Supply Subsea Tech for Petrobras' Roncador Module III Project
by South America Contract Awards News
February 10, 2009
FMC Technologies has received an award from Petrobras to engineer and manufacture four subsea manifolds and controls for its Roncador Module III project. This project will also incorporate FMC's All-Electric technology in Brazilian waters. The contract is valued at approximately $75 million in revenue for FMC.
FMC's scope of supply consists of two, six-slot subsea manifolds to distribute gas lift injection to 12 wells. These manifolds will also contain 12 subsea control modules that will provide electro-hydraulic functions to operate the manifolds and subsea trees. The company will also supply two additional manifolds for water injection that will utilize FMC's proprietary All-Electric actuators for the operation of the chokes. The equipment will be engineered and manufactured at FMC Technologies' facility in Rio de Janeiro with deliveries expected to commence in 2010.
"We are pleased that a leading operator, Petrobras, recognizes the value of our All-Electric technology and our subsea systems," said John Gremp, Executive Vice President of FMC Technologies. "We have manufactured systems for Petrobras' Roncador field since 1999, and to date we have supplied all three existing subsea manifolds as well as related controls and equipment."
FMC Technologies' products have been present in the Brazilian oil industry since 1961, and the company's operations in Brazil have supplied subsea solutions to the region since 1978. With two facilities in Rio de Janeiro and one service base in Macae, FMC's capabilities in Brazil include local engineering, project management, manufacturing, integration testing, installation and customer support.
Roncador
The Roncador Field was discovered in 1996 at water depths ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 m (4,900 to 6,600 ft) in the Campos Basin. It is 125 km (80 miles) from the coast. The Roncador Field was a major breakthrough for many reasons, including the world's first drill pipe riser, subsea tree and early production riser (EPR) rated for 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The first well, RJS-436, produced to the FPSO Seillean from 1999 to 2001 using the EPR at a world water-depth record of 1,853 m (6,077 ft) with the GLL TLD 2000 subsea tree.
The first phase of this full-scale project was put on stream in May 2000 when the semi and FSO P-47 began operation. An accident caused P-36 to sink in March 2001, when six (6) wells were in production. After the accident, Petrobras chartered a production unit called FPSO Brasil to temporarily substitute the P-36 platform. For a period of 5-1/2 years, eight (8) production and three (3) injection wells will be connected to the chartered FPSO.
In 2006, the second phase of Module IA involved operating twenty (20) production wells and ten (10) injection wells, including those that had been connected to FPSO Brasil. These wells were tied to P-52, a brand new semisubmersible with capacity to produce 180,000 bopd. This unit will be one of the largest in the world, with a total displacement of 80,000 metric tons. The feasibility studies for the other three (3) modules of Roncador are currently under way
