Brazil
Landmark: Brazil’s First Turnkey Subsea Project
Project Overview
- Contract Award: 2001
- Sales: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Fabrication: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- Service Base: Macaé, Brazil
- Host Type: FPSO
- Contract Type: EPC
Project Characteristics
- No. Trees: 15 Water Depth: 500 to 900 m (1,600 to 2,900 ft)
- Tree Type: Vertical
- Tree Pressure: 5,000 psi
- Tree Bore Size: 4"x2"
- Hydrocarbon: Oil/Gas
Project Ownership
Scope of Work
Subsea
- Five (5) subsea manifolds
- Three (3) production manifolds
- Two (2) water-injection manifolds
- Vertical connection system
- Ten (10) hydraulic connectors
- Twenty (20) light mechanical connectors
- Hydraulic installation tools
- Five (5) subsea control modules
- One (1) pipeline and termination system
- Thermal insulation on production lines
- System integration testing, offshore installation support and technical assistance
Floating Production
- Conversion of tanker to an FPSO (supplied by MODEC)
- FPSO external cantilevered bow turret mooring system (supplied by FMC SOFEC)
Comments
The Bijupira and Salema Fields were discovered in 1990 and are located 250 km (150 miles) east of Rio de Janeiro. The blocks range in water depths from 480 to 880 m (1,580 to 2,900 ft). The fields have combined estimated recoverable reserves of around 170 mmbo. The partnership between FMC and MODEC International supplied the FPSO vessel and turret, flowlines, riser system, controls, manifolds and tie-in systems.
The FPSO receives hydrocarbons from the subsea wells, gathered around two (2) centers on the seabed some 5 km (3 miles) apart and can process up to 70,000 bopd. The Bijupira Salema development has a total of three (3) production and two (2) water-injection manifolds. The FPSO’s turret has space for fifteen (15) risers, three (3) umbilicals and two (2) spare slots. The vessel is secured to the seabed by nine (9) mooring lines, giving the vessel the ability to weathervane. Artificial lift is required to raise the reservoir fluids to the surface for processing by the injection of high-pressure seawater.
The development is significant because of two major reasons. First, it is one of Brazil’s first major fields developed by a foreign operator. Second, it is one of the first turnkey subsea developments in Brazil, where a single group (FMC and MODEC) has provided most of the hardware.