A Case History of Deepwater ESPs on Jubarte Offshore Brazil

(Mastering submersible pumping: Lessons learned from the

initial years of Jubarte operation)

Rômulo Goes Furtado, Otávio Ciribelli Borges, Petrobras

Luis Vergara, Domitila de Pieri Pereira, Schlumberger

Aberdeen, June 17th, 2014

Agenda

• Petrobras subsea experience

• Jubarte field information and architecture

• Jubarte electrical submersible pumps (ESPs) and ESP management

system

• ESP operation challenges and solutions

• Conclusions

• Acknowledgements

BR Subsea Production Boosting Experience: The Road Leading

to Jubarte and Beyond

1994

Carapeba

RJS-221

Albacora

RJS-477

1998

Marimba

Vertical Annular Separation and

Pumping System (VASPS)

2001

Carapeba

RJS-320 and CRP-64

Jubarte

ESS-110 EWT

Jubarte

Phase 2

2002 2010

Caisson ESP with Gas-Liquid

Separation

ESP above Christmas Tree

Booster

Caisson ESP Booster

Golfinho

2006

Caisson ESP Booster

Parque das Baleias

2015

ESP Skid Booster

Jubarte Phase 3

2016

ESP Skid Booster

Jubarte Phase 2: • 15 Subsea ESP installations in a

caisson • Water depths 1,400 m • Expected field production—30000

m3/d (180 kB/D) • Fluid per well production—5000

m3/d (30 kB/D) at pump intake • Free gas at pump intake = 10 to

40% The fluid and reservoir properties: • BHP 255 bar, Pb 180 bar • BHT 76oC (170oF) • 17o API oil • 0-95% water cut (WC) • Intake pressure range—41.3 to

137.8 bar (600 to 2,000 psi) • 265 scf/stb GOR, • 155,000 ppm salinity

Jubarte Phase 2 Information and Challenges

The Challenges:

• Deep water

• Horizontal producers

• Heavy oil with strong emulsion formation

• Long step outs

• Operational environment with wide temperature and pressure swings

• ESP operation below the bubble pressure

• High free gas volumes that must be handled by the pump

• High WC expected early in the life of the field

• Hydrates formation

• High-flow rate subsea ESP’s track record

• Susceptibility to changes in flow direction upstream of the pump

• Pressure maintenance key for sustained production

Jubarte Field Architecture

Production well

Módulo de Bombeio [MoBo]

Production

Jumper

BLU

ANM

Jumpers:

•Hydraulic (QI)

•Electrical (ESP)

Subsea Architecture

Production Line

FPSO P-57

Service Line Integrated Power Umbilical

• Motor Lead Extension (MLE): No. 1AWG,

polyetheretherketone (PEEK), Lead Barrier, Monel® armor,

three single-phase cables, no splices

• Trident* extreme conditions MLE Pothead: Individual

conductor plug-ins

• Pumps: 862 series M675A (35000 B/D @ 60Hz, 145bar

(2100 psi)), factory shimmed with integral advanced gas

handling (AGH ) (45% free gas)

• Protectors - LSBPBPB & LSBPB

• Motors: 1500-hp REDA Maximus* ESP, 200 A, 4556 V

The Jubarte ESP

• Shipping and Handling

Protection

• Surveillance: ESP

management system

The ESP Management System

FPSO Main Parameters

ESP Sensor

Parameters

VSD Main Parameters

C&E Matrix Configuration

Summary

VSD, Permissive

Starts and Trips Status

Operation Differences Between Subsea ESP and In-Well ESP

Typical problems associated with ESP operation:

• Equipment:

• Well completion hardware (downhole pressure gauge, downhole safety valve)

• Modulo de Bombeio (MoBo) (connector, jumpers, ESP)

• Surface instrumentation

Additional problems associated to seabed ESP operation:

• Flow assurance: emulsion, higher gas volume fraction (GVF) at pump intake, hydrates, severe slugging

• Process loop hardware malfunction/operation (gauges, valves, human errors)

• Transient conditions: pressure and temperature variations, cooling velocity following shutdowns, cold starts, free water breakthrough, capsule instabilities)

The operational approach should seek extending the traditional concept of process control to MoBo-ESP systems management, combining ESP run life with oil production maximization

ESP Operation — What We Expect

Tmotor

Current

Pintake

Pdischarge

Twellhead

Psurface

Frequency

Pdownhole

ESP Operation: What We Can Obtain—The Case of Restarting

Load started to decrease Restart 1 Restart 2 Restart 3 Restart 4 Restart 5

ESP shutdown

The Case of Viscous Emulsion Inversion

Pd

Pi

Amps

The Case of Injecting the Correct Amount of De-Emulsifier

Injection Rate Corrected Unstable Conditions Stable Operation

Delta P

Pi

The Case of Intermittent flow

06/09/2012 00:00:0002/09/2012 00:00:00 4,00 dias

10

60

110

160

220

Severe Intermittent Flow in Capsule

• To increase production with subsea ESP, special focus must be placed on:

– Understand the flow pattern to ensure an effective startup and operate

under optimum conditions

– Understand the pump and caisson fluid dynamic behavior to allow the

pump to operate some observed inflow discontinuities

– These two topics confer a radically different operating approach for ESP

installed outside of a production well.

• The approach chosen to the Jubarte Field:

– Efficient project management

– Technology breakthrough

– Operator and service provider collaboration/sinergy

– Understanding the individual well operation—procedures

– ESP management system

– Skilled personnel, on-board monitoring, and surveillance

Conclusions

The authors would like to thank Petrobras and Schlumberger for allowing this

work to be presented. Our special thanks go to:

• Gerencia de Elevação e Escoamento da Petrobras UO-ES Ativo Jubarte

• Engenharia de Produção UO-ES (UO-ES/ENGP) da Petrobras

• P-57 Coprods (Production Coordinator), Suprods ((Production Supervisor),

Operators

• Schlumberger Artificial Lift Subsea Center of Excellence

Acknowledgements