How Technology based (disruptive) production concepts may become a game changer in ultradeep water oil & gas production, reducing greenhouse gas emissions
The oil and gas production in Brazil will increase at least half million barrels per day until 2027 and Pre-salt Santos basin which will be responsible for around 69% this production.
In this context, relevant questions arise by the increase of social and environmental pressures to change the energy matrix profile, focusing on a lower carbon future world. So, oil and gas industry has been challenged to reduce deeply the carbon footprint to comply with Paris Agreement goals.
In general, reducing emissions impact on additional costs. Therefore, the industry and the academia need to develop solutions that at the same time reduce or eliminate emissions and, ambitiously, add value to the projects. To make it possible, the way that we produce oil & gas shall be significantly changed .
In this context, the adoption of a technology based approach here in referred as disruptive concepts, that involves high reliability and ultra-reduced cost wells; reliable and innovative subsea processing and production systems, associated to decentralized subsea water injection; long subsea tie backs; unmanned surface production systems; and external power sources will be key in the new page of the energy industry of the future.
This paper presents how an integrated technical & economic feasibility analysis with carbon emission impact for different disruptive production concepts for oil & gas fields in Brazil may demonstrate the potential of integrating new technologies to generate value and reducing emissions, paving the journey to a new low carbon world.
Hiseptm: a step change on the production of high CO2 and high gor fields, paving the journey to a low carbon world
In these scenarios, the application of the HISEPTM, a high pressure, dense phase separation technology patented by PETROBRAS and under development by PETROBRAS and their partners, enhances production by enabling the separation and reinjection of a major fraction of the CO2 rich associated gas from the seabed as a dense fluid.
Then, HISEPTM has the potential of reducing the need for large gas processing plants in topsides, extending the oil production plateau, accelerating the production as well as reducing carbon footprint. As HISEPTM is a new concept of a subsea system, a robust qualification program based on API 17Q has been executed to assess the technology maturity until HISEPTM is considered as a field-proven system.
This work presents the HISEPTM technology development journey, the main lessons learnt of the biggest technological project under execution in Brazil until now, the benefits of the adequate early engagement of the market as well present the next steps to reach the field-proven status and potential applications.
External power supply for ultra-deep water assets: a step change alternative to unlock the lower carbon emission oil & gas production systems of the future
In this paper, several scenarios comprising offshore oil & gas production facilities were analyzed in terms of fluid production curves and primary processing plants schemes, so that power and heat demand are estimated.
Three low-carbon external power supply options were investigated: (i) Power from shore; (ii) Offshore power generation with post-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCUS) and (iii) Floating offshore wind. Results are analyzed in terms of technical feasibility, economic indicators and emissions reduction potential.
The present study consists in evaluating and comparing the LCOE (Levelized Cost of Electricity) and emissions reduction of offshore oil and gas projects with power import alternatives. Practical limitations for implementation in brownfields for each scenario are discussed when presenting the challenges that shall be faced. Nevertheless, the results present some insights regarding the intercomparison among the evaluated alternatives to large scale offshore hubs connected to multiple offshore assets. The work will show that it is expected additional cost reduction for the technologies considered at this work in the near future. Therefore, this trend may unlock opportunities to provide energy to additional subsea Processing & Boosting, which may be the key to accelerate the adoption of external and low carbon power supply of Oil & Gas production assets.
Fabio Passarelli
Fabio Passarelli has a degree in chemical engineering and is post-graduated in petroleum processing engineering from the State University of Rio de Janeiro. He accumulates many years of experience in the energy sector working with downstream and upstream area, including the regulation of Petroleum and Derivatives, passing through companies and Brazilian Authorities like Ipiranga, ANP and Petrobras. He has huge experience in implementation of mega production and development projects. Since March 2022 has been working in the area of Research Intelligence and Innovation in Production Development at PETROBRAS, leading the development of disruptive concepts and integration of technology portfolios.
