The first 740,000 barrel cargo of heavy crude oil from the Papa-Terra FPSO, Chevron’s largest investment offshore Brazil, was successfully offloaded last week via the shuttle tanker Brasil Voyager – a vessel purpose-built to service this new facility.
“The first offloading at Papa-Terra represents an important milestone for the company, reinforces the progress being made by the project and highlights the success of the partnership between Chevron and Petrobras,” commented Les Wood, a manager with Chevron Brazil.
Chevron says the Brasil Voyager will offload around 950,000 barrels of crude from Papa-Terra every 40 days and deliver the cargo to their refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
Papa-Terra is located in the southern Campos basin in block BC-20, approximately 70 miles (110 kilometers) southeast of Rio de Janeiro at a water depth of approximately 3,900 feet (1,190 meters). Chevron achieved first-oil in November 2013, 10 years after oil was originally discovered.
In April, McDermott International completed the installation of the field’s Tension Leg Wellhead Platform, the first such facility offshore Brazil. Chevron notes Heavier-oil production wells will lead to the platform while lighter-oil production wells will tie back to the FPSO. Papa-Terra has installed capacity to produce 140,000 barrels of crude and 35 million cubic feet of natural gas per day.