Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN) and Maersk Supply Service (MSS) have formed a consortium and signed a contract with Petrobas for the supply and installation of a Permanent Reservoir Monitoring (PRM) system on the giant Mero field.
This contract includes the engineering, procurement, construction, installation, and operation of the PRM system. The PRM system will be used to monitor and optimize oil production from the Mero field which is in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin, 180 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
As stated by Petrobras and the Libra Joint Project team during the 16th International Congress of the Brazilian Geophysical Society:
The motivations for investing in a frequent, high density/high repeatability 4D scheme on Merostems from the anticipated added value of 4D information to directly assist a production drive, based on WAG – alternating water and gas reinjection.
The PRM system for the Mero field is based on the Optowave technology developed by ASN Norway. ASN will mobilize its resources and subcontractors in Europe and in Brazil to complete the engineering, manufacturing, installation and commissioning of Mero PRM system. Maersk Supply Service will project manage, engineer and execute the offshore installation itself, operating out of its office in Brazil in Rio de Janeiro and utilizing one of its I-Class subsea support vessels to perform the offshore operation.
Optowave PRM systems installed on other offshore fields have recorded active seismic data for many years. Once captured, the data are transferred to onshore processing centers.
The acquired active seismic data are processed in order to provide high resolution images of the reservoir. These images are used to characterize the reservoir and are compared over the years to assess changes in reservoir pressure and the location and movement of the fluids. The interpretation of the PRM data will contribute to improve the reservoir management and accordingly enable to increase the oil recovery.
Alain Biston, President of Alcatel Submarine Networks said, “We are delighted to cooperate with Petrobras to deploy the Optowave system, as the first pre-salt PRM with more than 4400 4-component stations in deep waters.
