Brazilian oil company Prio received an installation licence from Brazil's environment agency Ibama for hooking up wells in its Wahoo fields to its offshore production platforms, the company announced on Monday.

The company said that it expected to start oil production on the field in March or April of next year, and estimates the cost at $870 million.

According to Prio's filing, the license approval was first reported by. It allows Prio connect oil wells located in the Wahoo Field to its floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) situated in the Frade Field.

The two fields are about 30 km apart in the Campos Basin.

A document from Ibama, seen by, states that the license allows for the interconnection of up to eleven wells, also known as a “tieback”, to Prio’s FPSO, of which four are production. (Reporting and writing by Marta Nogueira, Fernando Cardoso, Editing by Natalia Siniawski & Sonali Paul).

(source: Reuters)