Petrobras Libra Site Investigation

PROJECT OVERVIEW 

Benthic, a Geo-services brand in Acteon’s Data and Robotics division, completed the offshore phase of a major geotechnical site investigation on the Libra Consortium’s high profile ultra-deepwater Libra project. Petrobras was responsible for administering the contract on behalf of the consortium.  The onshore laboratory testing phase was completed on time and within budget. This was Benthic’s maiden project in Brazil and constituted a major strategic milestone in the company’s evolution given Brazil’s status as the largest deepwater market in the world. 

THE CHALLENGE 

Operations were able to continue in seas of 4-5m, resulting in weather downtime of less than 2% further demonstrating the superior operating envelope of PROD’s world leading technology. 

THE SOLUTION 

This was the first-time seabed drilling technology had been employed in this market. In another Brazilian first, PROD successfully rotary cored to 60m below mud line in water depths to 2,339m, obtaining critical geological information that had been unobtainable using traditional methods. 

THE RESULT 

Benthic’s PROD mobilised on the DP2 Chouest Wildebeest MPSV completed the fieldwork phase ahead of schedule and to the highest standards of quality and safety. There were zero LTIs (lost time incidents), with project man hours exceeding 42,000. A total of 3,100 linear meters of CPT, sampling and coring, requiring 40 dives was successfully undertaken.