Norwegian oil and gas giant Equinor has produced the first batch of oil in the Peregrino Phase II project in the Campos basin off Brazil. The second stage development of Peregrino heavy oil field is being carried out through a new wellhead platform and a drilling rig named Peregrino-C. The new platform is installed in 120m water depth.

The development plan of the project was submitted by Statoil in 2015. It is planned to start production in 2020, but affected by COVID-19. Equinor said that the second phase of Peregrino was still implemented within the initial estimated cost of US $3 billion.

Geir tungesvik, executive vice president of equinor project, drilling and procurement, said that COVID-19 has made Peregrino phase 2 a challenging project. I would like to thank all participants for delivering the project with excellent HSE results.

The second phase of the project aims to extend the life and value of Brazil's offshore oil fields and pay 250 million to 300 million barrels of crude oil. This will be carried out through production in the southwest area of Peregrino after drilling 15 oil production plants and 6 water injectors. Peregrino Phase 2 is produced by looping back to the existing Peregrino FPSO and unloading. The project also involves a new pipeline to transport natural gas to the Peregrino C platform for power generation.

Al Cook, Executive Vice President of Equinor Exploration and Production International, said that the launch of Peregrino's second phase was an important milestone in Equinor's Brazilian growth strategy. This project shows how we can put valuable new resources into production while investing in technology to reduce carbon emissions. I am proud that the second stage of Peregrino will increase the production of the oilfield to 110000 barrels per day, while halving our emission intensity.

The Peregrino oilfield was put into operation in 2011. In July 2022, the Campos Basin oil field will restart production after more than two years of clearance for unplanned maintenance of subsea equipment. Equinor is the operator of the oilfield, holding 60% shares. Sinochem Group holds the remaining 40% shares in cooperation with Sinochem Group.Editor/Xing Wentao