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Petrobras installs reservoir monitoring grid in Brazilian ultra-deepwater field
Brazil’s state run energy group can monitor hydrocarbon flows through one of its huge oil fields in the Santos basin with a sensor grid using a DOF vessel
Petrobras has deployed a reservoir monitoring grid on its giant Mero oil field in the Santos basin offshore Brazil in a “first-of-a-kind” operation.
DOF subsidiary Maersk Supply Service installed the dynamic cable riser using a specialised module on 2017-built subsea construction vessel Skandi Involver. This enabled it to connect to a permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM) sensor grid on the deepwater field.
DOF installed a spread, manufactured in Scotland, on this Marin Teknikk 6027 design, 138-m vessel for the Mero PRM, which will enable Petrobras to monitor oil and gas flows through the reservoir and plan future developments, infill drilling and secondary and tertiary recovery planning.
Maritime Developments Ltd (MDL) developed the bespoke spread to simultaneously handle five individual cables and the dynamic cable riser, and to install the data transfer unit assembly pigtails and backbone cables – all deployed from 9.2-m reels. This was mobilised in Peterhead, Scotland, and installed on Skandi Involver.
The onboard spread features a wheeled horizontal lay system (WHLS), Generation-2 reel drive system (RDS) and four tensioners ranging from 12 tonnes up to 110 tonnes of line pull capacity. MDL’s spread also includes several hydraulic winches ranging between 5 tonnes and 30 tonnes.
The back-deck arrangement of the tensioners and custom deflectors, engineered by Maersk Supply Service and MDL together, supports optimised handling to minimise stress on the multiple products and the simultaneous installation of the pigtail lines.
MDL said the large-capacity tensioner, combined with the WHLS frictionless wheel mechanism, helped low-friction deployment of the dynamic riser assembly and connected pigtails, reducing drag and ensuring optimal product integrity during installation.
“This first-of-a-kind operation was extremely challenging due to the requirement to handle and install five individual cables simultaneously, in water depths up to 2,500 m,” said MDL senior project manager Euan Crichton.
“The challenge was made greater by the lines being preterminated in a single DUTA at one end and connected to the same reel at the opposite end.”
Operations were on the unitised Mero field, conducted by a consortium operated by Petrobras, which owns 38.6%. It is in partnership with Shell (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNPC (9.65%), CNOOC (9.65%) and Pre-Salt Petroleo (3.5%), which manages the production sharing contract and represents the Brazilian government in the non-contracted area.
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