Solutions to Increase the Economic Attractiveness of Offshore Projects - Petrobras Experience in Subsea Design

Abstract

Offshore oil development projects are complex and require high capital investment. The application of methodologies that seek optimization of economic parameters of projects became particularly important since 2014, when oil barrel prices plummeted. At that moment, some projects required modifications to regain economical attractivity. The recovery of project profitability depended on the break-even oil price criterion fulfillment (typically USD 40-45) among other requirements. This paper presents a methodology developed by Petrobras to increase the profitability of offshore projects in conceptual design phase while meeting the technical and safety minimum requirements. Successful solutions provided by the Petrobras team, enabled through this methodology, to make more than 15 projects economically viable are presented. The solutions include phased development, reuse of flexible lines from declining production wells, application of new technologies (including boosting and processing), use of innovative subsea architectures, procedures to increase ramp-up speed, long tie-backs, etc. This article is focused on subsea engineering solutions.