Brazilian oil and gas company PRIO, formerly known as PetroRio, has obtained a multi-well drilling license for a field in the Campos basin off the coast of Brazil.
The Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) has issued an amendment to the drilling license for the Frade field , authorizing PRIO to drill up to 14 new wells at the field.
This comes soon after Ibama granted an operating license after greenlighting the installation of the Wahoo field production development system and the interconnection of wells to the FPSO Valente , formerly known as Frade.
The company’s plan for the Wahoo project consisted of drilling four producing and two injector wells, with first oil targeted between March and April 2026. The drilling permit for the six-well campaign was received last year, when the Hunter Queen rig started its move to the site .
As part of PRIO’s intention to create a production cluster through the tie-back between the Wahoo and Frade fields, a development plan was submitted to the National Petroleum Agency, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) in December 2021.
The firm previously confirmed receipt of the operating licence to drill wells on the Frade field in April 2022, enabling the Norbe VI rig to embark on the Frade field revitalisation campaign and the Wahoo field development.