Petrobras announced that the Búzios field has reached an average production rate of 1 million B/D, an increase of 200,000 B/D since February.
About 180 km offshore Rio de Janeiro in the presalt Santos Basin, Búzios holds Brazil’s largest oil reserves. It is the second field in the country to surpass the 1-million-B/D mark, following the nearby Tupi field that is also producing from the Santos Basin’s presalt layer.
In its 5 November announcement, Petrobras said Búzios has the most productive wells in Brazil, most of which have been drilled 2000 m below the seabed. The thickness of its reservoir is comparable to the height of Rio’s Sugarloaf Mountain, and its areal extent is more than twice the size of Guanabara Bay.
"The trajectory of Petrobras is marked by overcoming challenges, exploring new geological frontiers, and developing technologies. Every time they said it couldn't be done, our technical team went there and did it,” said Magda Chambriard, president of Petrobras, in a statement. She added that 80% of Brazil’s crude production, an estimated 3.8 million B/D in total, now comes from presalt reservoirs
The Búzios field hosts six active floating production, storage, and offloading units, including the Almirante Tamandaré, which is the largest in Brazil, with a processing capacity of 225,000 B/D. A seventh unit, the P-78, arrived on location last month and is undergoing well interconnection work ahead of production startup.
The recent milestones are part of Petrobras’ Búzios 7 project, which aims to accelerate delivery of an integrated development that includes the Almirante Tamandaré platform along with all associated subsea infrastructure such as pipelines and wells.
Petrobras noted that the capital project received the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) Brazil Distinguished Achievement Award for Companies on 30 October.
OTC presented the award to Petrobras after the company achieved first oil from the project in February, just 4 years after reaching a final investment decision.
Búzios was discovered by Petrobras in 2010 and began operations in 2018. Petrobras is the operator of the field with an 88.98% interest alongside partners CNOOC (7.34%), CNPC (3.67%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (PPSA) as the project manager.
