MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petrobras to invest a billion dollars in Espirito Santo

Brazil's government owned oil company Petrobras plans to invest the equivalent of 994 million US dollars in the South-eastern state of Espírito Santo, north of Rio do Janeiro, to develop oil and gas production projects, according to the Brazilian press.

The projects involve the development of onshore and offshore fields in the Espírito Santo and Campos basins, and the amount that will be invested this year represents 40% of the total cost of the main four projects there. In 2004, the company spent over 660 million US dollars in Espírito Santo state.

Petrobras estimates that by next June it will have operational the refurbishment of the P-34 floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel which will be used to produce 60,000 barrels of oil a day (b/d) at the Jubarte field in the Campos basin, off the southern coast of Espírito Santo state.

When the first phase of this project was started a few years ago it was budgeted at 230 million US dollars. The second phase involves the construction of the P-57 platform that is scheduled to come on line in 2010, according to a Petrobras spokesperson.

As for the Espírito Santo basin, off the northern coast of the state, Petrobras will conclude the development of the Peroá field some 57km offshore. In June, the PPR-1 fixed, uninhabited platform will start production and the onshore gas treatment plant at Canoga will also begin operations. The whole Peroá-Cangoa project was started in 2003 and is budgeted at 280 million US dollars, which includes the underwater links to the platform.

Still in the Espírito Santo basin, Petrobras plans to contract the FPSO Capixaba to start producing oil on the region's most prominent light crude and natural gas field, Golfinho, by May 2006 and expand the onshore Cacimbas gas treatment unit. The project is expected to cost 960 million US dollars. Petrobras also plans to contract a second FPSO for Golfinho to start operations in May 2007.

Finally, the company expects to start operations by mid-year of the northern Capixaba terminal system which includes a pipeline link that will take heated ultra-heavy crude from the inland Fazenda Alegre field to an offshore buoy terminal. From there ships can load the fuel to take it to Petrobras' Lubinor lubricant plant in Ceará state, in the northeast of the country. Petrobras currently produces some 40,000b/d in Espírito Santo state, of which 50% comes from the Jubarte field.