Petrobras' P-58 Platform Comes Online - Analyst Blog

On Mar 18, 2014, Brazilian state-run energy giant, Petroleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras PBR stated that the production platform P-58 has commenced operations in the Parque das Baleias complex, offshore Espírito Santo state, in the Campos Basin. The P-58 works at the pre-salt reservoir well 7-BFR-7-ESS.
 
The FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) type P-58 is situated at a water depth of 1,400 meters and is located around 85 kilometers offshore Espírito Santo. It belongs to the North project of the Parque das Baleias complex. Petrobras plans to connect eight pre-salt and seven post-salt production wells along with nine injection wells to this platform in the coming months though a flexible pipeline system.

Weighing 63,300 tons, the P-58 has the capacity to process 180,000 barrels of oil and 6,000,000 cubic meters of natural gas per day.

The start-up of this platform is in accordance with Petrobras' 2014-2018 Business and Management Plan. The company also plans to start three new platforms in the second quarter of this year.

Platform P-62, along with platforms P-52, P-54 and P-55 will develop the Roncador field, in the Campos Basin. Platform P-55 already commenced operations last December.

Platform P-61 and SS-88 TAD, a support drilling well semisubmersible platform, will work at the Papa Terra field, along with the platform P-63. P-63 started production last November.

Rio de Janeiro-headquartered Petrobras currently holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that it is expected to perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

Meanwhile, one can look at better-ranked players in the energy sector like Warren Resources Inc. WRES, Range Resources Corporation RRC and Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. PTEN. All the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).