Japanese quartet to invest in Modec’s Sepia FPSO

Four Japanese companies will invest in a new company established by compatriot Modec with an aim to provide a floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit for the Petrobras-operated Sepia field offshore Brazil. 

Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL), Marubeni and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding (MES) have agreed to invest in a long-term charter business currently promoted by Modec for the purpose of providing an FPSO for use in the Sepia area off the coast of Brazil.

The five companies entered into related agreements on Tuesday, Modec informed.

Based on these agreements, Mitsui, MOL, Marubeni and MES will invest in Sepia MV30 B.V. (MV30), a Dutch company established by Modec, and the companies will proceed jointly with the project.

MV30 has already entered into a long-term charter agreement for the deployment of the FPSO with Petrobras, the Brazilian state oil company. The FPSO will be chartered for 21 years under the charter agreement which was signed on October 13, 2017.

The FPSO will be deployed at the Sépia field operated by Petrobras, located in the giant “pre-salt” region of the Santos Basin some 250 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at a water depth approximately 2,200 meters.

Modec is responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, mobilization, installation and operation of the FPSO, including topsides processing equipment as well as hull and marine systems. A Modec group company, Sofec, will design and supply the spread mooring system.

The FPSO will be capable of processing 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day, 212 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, 240,000 barrels of water injection per day and has storage capacity of 1,400,000 barrels of crude oil.

Following the investment, the ownership in MV30 company will be held by Modec (20.1%), Mitsui & Co. (32.4%), Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (20.6%), Marubeni (17.6%), and MES (9.3%).