Photo:Pre-Salt Map

Petrobras has been drilling wells in the pre-salt in ever shorter times, without giving up the best global operational safety practices. To have an idea of the importance of this activity, note that around 50% of the company’s investment in pre-salt is designated for constructing and evaluating wells. With the experience acquired and the introduction of new technologies and best practices, the average well drilling time in the pre-salt layer of Lula and Sapinhoá fields declined by 55%, from 126 days in 2010 to 60 days in 2013. In these areas, the company has already achieved durations of close to 30 days between the first and last meter drilled ("dry hole").

As a result of this reduction, the company has achieved major cost savings due to a decline in the number of days spent on drilling operations. Given that the average cost of drilling a well is approximately US$1 million per day, Petrobras is saving an average of US$66 million in drilling activities per pre-salt well. This is a significant advance, considering what this saving represents for Petrobras’ cash levels.

This strong performance is the result of continuous efforts by Petrobras to optimize the well drilling activity, which is considered critical due to the heavy investment involved. In order to further improve its results, in 2013 the company created its Well Cost Reduction Program, one of the pillars of its 2014-2018 Business and Management Plan.

Over the next five years, Petrobras will invest around US$70 billion in constructing exploration wells and developing production in Brazil – 32% of the company’s total investment planned in its Business and Management Plan, and 46% of its scheduled investment in exploration and production in Brazil.