SAO PAULO, 11/19/09 - The Exploration and Production Director of Brazilian oil giant Petrobras, Guilherme Estrella, ensured Wednesday that the company is apt to be the sole operator of the subsalt reserve and of the strategic areas around it. Estrella attended an event about the subsalt area held by the Getulio Vargas Foundation, in Rio de Janeiro.

According to Estrella, the technology to produce oil and gas in the subsalt area already exists and now the company is trying to overcome the logistics obstacles to produce oil in fields that are 300 kilometers away. The executive added that the pilot-project for the Tupi field, in the Santos Basin, is scheduled to start in December 2010.

Other challenges mentioned by Estrella include the installation of automated platforms, which will require less live-in workers, and the adoption of new material for the offshore equipment. Regarding distribution of the gas produced in the subsalt area, the executive said that the Tupi field will be linked to the Mexilhao platform and that afterwards the gas will be sent to the Caraguatatuba plant.

Estrella pointed out that of the US$104.6 billion allocated by Petrobras' 2009-2013 business plan for exploration and production in Brazil and abroad, 17% (US$18.8 billion) will be invested in the subsalt area of the Santos Basin. Petrobras expects to produce, in the subsalt area alone, 219,000 boed by 2013 and 1.8 million boed by 2020.

(Newsroom - Agencia IN)

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