Brazilian oil firm Enauta said Wednesday that its Atlanta field in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, had resumed full production following a recent pumping system failure.
Enauta said Wednesday that all the wells tied to the early production system - the Petrojarl I FPSO - are operational following the completion of repairs of oil heaters.
"After a period of stabilization, the company expects to initially produce nearly 20,000 thousand barrels of oil/day, by operating three wells, which accounts for Enauta’s record daily production," Enauta said.
Further, Enauta said it was working to expand the water treatment capacity in FPSO Petrojarl I, so it can increase oil production.
"The conclusion of the first phase, which foresees a 35% higher volume of treated water, is estimated for the end of 2021," Enauta said.
Also, Enauta said that it had earlier in August initiated the bid of equipment and services necessary to drill a fourth well, aiming at increasing the field’s production capacity. The drilling of the fourth well is estimated for the third quarter of 2022, and production should start by the end of 2022.
Apart from looking to boost output vie the existing FPSO, Enauta is working to bring in a bigger FPSO to the Atlanta field to develop the offshore oil field fully It in March launched the bidding process for the new - sort of - FPSO for the full development.
Enauta said in March it expected that the bidding process for the full field development FPSO would be completed in 10 to 12 months, with companies with proven experience in developing similar projects invited to take part.
The bidding considers an FPSO with a capacity to process 50 thousand barrels of oil per day, to which 6 to 8 producing wells will be connected, including the 3 wells already - partially- in operation in the Early Production System (EPS).
According to Enauta, the bidding process considers the adaptation of an existing FPSO, which has never been deployed, made possible by an exclusive agreement for 12 months with an option to purchase signed by Enauta. The winning bidder will have the right to exercise this option.
According to World Energy Reports, the existing FPSO in question is the OSX 2 FPSO, currently in storage in SE Asia.
"This FPSO was completed in 2013 and went from the shipyard to storage site when the field operator (OGX) decided to not deploy the production unit. The winning bidder will have the right to exercise the purchase option and modify/use the OSX 2 on the [Atlanta field] project. Bids for the redeploy mods are now likely in Q4 2021," World Energy Reports said in its recent FPS report.
Per Rystad Energy, more FPSO contracts were awarded in the second quarter of 2021 than in the entire year of 2020. The Norwegian company recently said it expected that FPSO awards would total ten units in 2021.
Rystad has also noted muted interest from suppliers for some recent FPSO tenders, citing a nearly full capacity with several suppliers unable to take on new projects.
Further, Rystad sees another 10 FPSO orders in 2022, which will, according to the Norwegian energy intelligence group, create "a very healthy project line-up for contractors, effectively doubling their pipeline."