Mero Field: Integrated Development, Challenges and Innovations

Abstract Mero field is among the biggest hydrocarbon discoveries in Brazilian pre-salt province and turned out to be a giant and high productivity reservoir. However, it has characteristics such as thick and heterogeneous carbonate reservoir, high reservoir pressures, high Gas-Oil Ratio (GOR), high CO2 content and presence of H2S that makes exploration and production challenging, as it requires specialized equipment and advanced technologies. An important pillar for the field, integrated development, is the Project Based Technology Development. Mero leverages existing or innovative technologies and aims to identify and close technology gaps in an integrated approach to maximize project value and increase its attractiveness. One of the primary challenges in highly complex reservoir, such as Mero, is deep reservoir understanding, and a robust drainage plan strategy. To mitigate all the main risks that could affect the Project results, Data Acquisition in the Production Phase must be planned and executed to minimize impacts on the Project deployment, obtain the information in time for optimizing the Project, and maximize the production and results at every moment. To maximize oil recovery and obtain a sustainable development, Mero Project considers the reinjection of gas and CO2 through alternating water and gas injection method (WAG) in all injector wells. A variety of offshore technologies were pushed beyond its previous limits, establishing industry "firsts", which have enabled an accelerated approval process and the development of the next production systems. To overcome all the technical and economic challenges, the Consortium created an integrated cooperative environment. As a result of the big integration between Consortium members and the supply chain companies involved, Mero Project is conceived through the application of several cutting-edge technologies, enabling the recovery of this large reserve with competitive break-even and robust carbon storage in the reservoir. Those practices were key to deploy two early production systems (FPSO Pioneiro de Libra) and one definitive system (FPSO Guanabara) – currently the higher FPSO in production in Brazil. The total field production is around 230.000 bpd and there are three others FPSOs to be deployed in the coming years. A compiled of practices applied to overcome the Mero field challenges and maximize the project's results. Those practices came from all the technical disciplines, such as Reservoir, Wells, Subsea, FPSO and Operations, as well as Compliance, HSE and management of the Production Sharing Contract. Some Technologies developed include but are not limited to Permanent Reservoir Monitoring (PRM), Cargo Transfer Vessel (CTV) and HISEP®, a Petrobras patented technology specifically designed to deal with high CO2 and gas content in Mero Reservoir.