Australian oil company Karoon said this week that it had brought on stream the PAT-1 well at its Patola field, offshore Brazil.

The PAT-1 is the second of two new production wells drilled into the Patola field in the BM-S-40 production license in Brazil, after the PAT-2 started production on March 15, 2023, at a rate of 12,000 – 14,000 bopd. 

The Pat-1 was brought onstream on March 27, 2023 at an initial rate of more than 12,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). 

Patola is currently producing more than 20,000 bopd from the two new development wells, taking total production from BM-S-40, post connection of the two wells, to over 40,000 bopd. 

Karoon expects that, after a period of initial Patola flush production, rates from BM-S-40 block will decline to about 33,000 to 35,000 bopd over the next few weeks, before entering a more normal decline phase. All the vessels, equipment and operating teams that have been utilized for the Patola project will now be demobilized.

The Patola field was discovered in 2011 by Petrobras and lies adjacent to the nearby Baúna and Piracaba fields. In June 2021, Karoon announced its decision to develop Patola, signing an integrated Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (iEPCI™) contract with oilfield services firm TechnipFMC.

Under the iEPCI contract, TechnipFMC designed, fabricated, and installed the Patola subsea infrastructure, including tree systems, flowlines, risers, umbilical, and controls, which was then tied back to the Baúna FPSO vessel, Cidade de Itajaí.

Karoon’s Chairman, Bruce Phillips, said: “Patola is Karoon’s first major new oil field development and has added materially to Karoon’s production base. The delivery of this project, schedule and within budget, would not have been possible without the support and insights of TechnipFMC and its team of highly skilled professionals in Brazil and around the world.

I would like to thank the TechnipFMC team for their valuable input and the high-performance standards that were set. We look forward to more opportunities to work with TechnipFMC in the future.”

Doug Pferdehirt, Chair, and Chief Executive Officer at TechnipFMC, commented: “We are delighted to have delivered the first iEPCI contract in Brazil for the Karoon Patola project. TechnipFMC and Karoon have developed a strong relationship based on trust and transparency, with shared principles and values. Through collaboration and our integrated expertise, we are proud to have helped Karoon achieve its goals and look forward to working together on future developments.”

Chair succession

Worth noting, Karoon said Friday that Phillips had notified the company of his intention to retire from the Board at the conclusion of the Annual General Meeting on November 23, 2023. 

The Board has appointed Peter Botten AC, CBE as Deputy Chairman with immediate effect. 

"It is intended that Mr. Botten will succeed Mr. Phillips at the conclusion of the 2023 AGM," Karoon said.

Phillips said: “It has been immensely satisfying to see Karoon evolve into an entity with a strong board and management team, and an asset base that facilitates growth into the future. The management team has done an excellent job in delivering safe, reliable, & sustainable production from the Bauna oil field acquisition, a highly successful intervention program to boost its production, a very encouraging drilling program on the Neon oil field, and more recently the delivery of first oil at excellent rates from the development of the Patola oil field. I believe the time is right for Karoon to enter the next stage of its evolution with a new chairman. In the meantime, I will continue to dedicate my energies to Karoon until retirement in November.”