Karoon achieves first production at Brazilian oil field with flowrates exceeding expectations

(WO) – Karoon announced that the PAT-2 well, one of two new production wells drilled into the Patola field in the BM-S-40 production license in Brazil, came onstream on March 15 at a rate of 12,000 – 14,000 bopd. This followed the installation of a subsea flowline and umbilical connecting the well to the Cidade de Itajaí FPSO and the completion of well and infrastructure commissioning activities.

Production from the second well, PAT-1, is expected to commence by the end of March 2023.

After an initial period of flush production, likely to last a few days, output from the two Patola wells is expected to stabilize at approximately 10,000 to 15,000 bopd, taking total production from BM-S-40 to more than 30,000 bopd, prior to natural decline commencing. 

Depending on the reservoir and aquifer response, one of the two production wells may be switched to water injection in the future, while any associated gas production from Patola will be reinjected into the Baúna reservoir through the SPS-89 gas injection well.

The Patola field was discovered in 2011 by Petrobras with the SPS-91 exploration well, which encountered 38 degrees API oil in the same Oligocene turbidite sandstones found in nearby Baúna and Piracaba, with similar petrophysical properties.

Due to better reservoir quality than expected at both the PAT-1 and PAT-2 well locations, Proven and Probable (2P) Reserves at Patola were upgraded by 1.7 MMbbl to 16.4 MMbbl as at December 31, 2021.

Karoon Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Dr Julian Fowles, said, “This is Karoon’s first new field development in Brazil and has been delivered with no material safety or environmental issues to date. The efficient execution of this project is testament to our technical, operational and commercial teams in Brazil and Australia, working closely with our service providers, and in collaboration with Altera & Ocyan, the operator of the FPSO. I would like to thank everyone who helped deliver this exciting project, in particular those on the Noble Developer drilling rig and the team at TechnipFMC, who designed, fabricated and installed the  Patola subsea infrastructure under an integrated Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (iEPCI™) contract, the first time this style of contract has been utilized in Brazil”