Petrobras to begin P-55 connection this month

Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras (NYSE: PBR) will this month begin connecting 17 wells to the P-55 production platform in the offshore Campos basin. The semisubmersible vessel is currently en route to the Roncador field after construction work was finalized at the Rio Grande shipyard in southern Brazil, Petrobras said in a statement. P-55 is one of nine production units scheduled to begin operating in Brazilian offshore fields this year. According to Petrobras, the vessel is on track to be brought online by December. "It will take approximately 12 days to tow the P-55 to the Campos basin, when the procedures required to anchor the unit and interconnect it to the 17 wells will get underway," Petrobras said. The platform - which will be connected to 11 production and six water injection wells - has the capacity to produce 180,000b/d of oil and 4Mm3/d of gas. Petrobras says the unit will help the company lift crude production to 2.75Mb/d from 2Mb/d by 2017.