(Petrobras, 24.Jul.2020) — Petrobras’ Executive Board approved the beginning of the contracting processes for three new Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSOs) platforms for the Búzios field, in the Santos Basin pre-salt.
The three new units are part of the Asset Development Plan, which envisages a total of twelve units installed by the end of the decade. At the end of the development phase, the Búzios field is expected to produce more than 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed), becoming Petrobras’ largest production asset.
Currently, there are four units operating in Búzios, which account for over 20% of Petrobras’ total production.
The fifth platform, the FPSO Almirante Barroso, is under construction and is scheduled to start production in the second half of 2022.
New Units
The first of the three new units will be the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré with startup schedule for the second half of 2024. The FPSO will be chartered with a daily processing capacity of 225 thousand barrels of oil and 12 million m3 of gas, and will be the largest oil production unit operating in Brazil and one of the largest in the world.
The other two units, P-78 and P-79, will be contracted under the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model and will have the capacity to process daily 180,000 barrels of oil and 7.2 million m3 of gas, each one. The platforms are expected to start operating in 2025.
Petrobras will contract wet Christmas trees (WCTs), drilling rigs, well services and collection systems. The FPSOs and WCTs are expected to be contracted in 2021, and the others will start in the next 18 months.
All contracts will meet the local content levels required for the Búzios field.
Petrobras has consolidated its learnings in FPSO projects, which are used as a reference for future contracts, incorporating standardization of specifications and market approach model. Innovations will also be implemented in the FPSOs, such as: mechanism for treatment and reinjection of the water produced in the reservoir; technologies to reduce the need for diving for hull inspection; in addition to items to reduce pollutant gas emissions, with emphasis on the closed flare, equipment that allows the reuse of the gas produced at the plant, without burning.
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