Petrobras Orders Two FPSOs

Brazil’s national oil company Petrobras has announced that an agreement for the construction of floating production storage units (FPSOs) P-75 and P-77 was signed on Monday (Sept. 16), at Palácio Piratini, in Porto Alegre, with the RIG Consortium, which is formed by Queiroz Galvão, Camargo Correa, and IESA. The ceremony was attended by the President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, and Petrobras’ CEO, Graça Foster.

The President remarked that ten years ago nobody believed that Brazil could have a naval hub. “Rio Grande do Sul now has a naval hub that shows the ability and strength of a policy that decided it was indeed possible to produce in Brazil,” said Rousseff, highlighting the importance of the growth of the Brazilian oil and gas industry supplier chain.

In her address, Graça said that in 2013 Petrobras will conclude eight platforms that will help the company achieve the goal of doubling production by 2020. “We have 90% contracted in order to be able, in 2020, to double what we produce today, in other words, to reach 4.2 million barrels,” she said. She also praised the Brazilian shipbuilding industry: “The learning curve is spectacular. We are very near to becoming one of the greatest centers of excellence in the world again.”

FPSOs P-75 and P-77

FPSOs (platforms that produce, store and offload oil) P-75 and P-77, with production capacities of 150,000 barrels per day each, will be deployed in Transfer of Rights blocks, in the Santos Basin pre-salt layer, along with two other similar units, the P-74 and P-76. The RIG Consortium will be in charge of building the modules of and integrating both platforms. The work will be done at the Honório Bicalho shipyard, in Rio Grande.

The vessels intended to have their hulls converted to the P-75 and P-77 are at the Cosco Shipyard, in China, undergoing hull preparation services, and are expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) in the second half of 2014, where the conversion works will be performed at the Inhaúma Shipyard. Upon the completion of this step, the hulls will go to Rio Grande. The P-75 is slated to arrive in Rio Grande in the second half of 2015, while the P-77 in the first half of 2016. The works are expected to create approximately 4,400 direct and indirect jobs at the peak of activities. The contractual domestic content is foreseen to be 65% to 71%.

[mappress]
Press Release, September 18, 2013