Shell launches Brazil production

• Tweet

RIO DE JANEIRO, July 14 (UPI) -- Production at the vast Parque das Conchas fields off the southeastern coast of Brazil is the first to use submarine oil and gas separation, Shell Oil Co. said.

Shell announced the launch of production at its multi-field Parque das Conchas project, located more than 68 miles off the southeast coast of Brazil. Heavy oil at the complex lies beneath more than 1 mile of water in the Campos Basin offshore Rio de Janeiro.

The field complex is a two-phase project drawing on production from three separate fields by employing new technology for development at that depth.

Parque das Conchas is the first to use full-field subsea oil and gas separation and underwater pumping methods, Shell said.

The Espirito Santo floating, production, storage and offloading vessel tied to the complex can process 100,000 barrels of oil and 50 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The storage capacity is nearly 1.5 million barrels of oil.

"This marks a major milestone in delivering oil from Brazil's deep water and demonstrates Shell's capability of delivering projects on time and on budget in a complex environment," said Marvin Odum, Shell's director of upstream activity for the Americas.