Moratorium slows Petrobras's Gulf of Mexico wells
* Moratorium raises uncertainty over drilling plans
* End 2010 deadline still achievable for Cascade, Chinook
RIO DE JANEIRO, Sept 14 (Reuters) - The U.S. moratorium on offshore drilling will delay some wells that Brazil's Petrobras is planning in the Gulf of Mexico, but a year-end project start date remained, a company official said on Wednesday.
The state-controlled firm had planned to drill additional wells after completing the first two in that area as part of the Cascade/Chinook project, but has put those plans on hold because of the moratorium following the massive BP spill earlier this year, Petrobras's Cesar Palagi told reporters.
"The impact of the moratorium is on the plan to drill and complete additional wells," said Palagi, who manages Petrobras projects in the Walker Ridge region of the Gulf of Mexico.
"Evidently other wells will be drilled in that area, but that will depend on the moratorium. We still believe we can begin production by the end of 2010," he said.
The company will use a floating platform known as an FPSO to produce oil from Cascade and Chinook, which are two separate fields. It has drilled one well in each, and the project has capacity to produce 80,000 barrels per day.
Palagi said the performance of the first two wells would determine both the number of additional wells Petrobras will drill and the amount that the fields produce when they begin output.
The two fields are 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) apart in water depths of up to 2,713 meters (8,900 feet) about 258 kilometers (160 miles) from the coast of Louisiana. The operation will be the first use in the United States of an FPSO, which are common in Brazil's offshore oil industry.
Using FPSOs facilitates oil production in remote marine areas where pipeline construction is difficult.
(Reporting by Brian Ellsworth; Editing by David Gregorio) |
