Equinor picks FPSO concept for gas field offshore Brazil

Equinor, together with license partners Repsol Sinopec and Petrobras, has approved the development concept for BM-C-33, a gas/condensate field located in the Campos Basin pre-salt in Brazil.

Equinor is the operator of the block with a 35 per cent interest with Repsol Sinopec and Petrobras as partners with 35 per cent and 30 per cent interests, respectively.

The BM-C-33 block, located in the Campos Basin pre-salt, was discovered by Repsol Sinopec in 2010 and Equinor took over the operatorship in 2016.

The block is about 200 km offshore and has water depths of up to 2,900m.

Equinor said on Thursday that the well streams will be sent to a floating production, storage and offloading unit (FPSO) located at the field.

Gas and oil/condensate will both be processed at the FPSO to sales specifications and exported. Crude will be offloaded by shuttle tankers and shipped to the international market after ship-to-ship transfer.

A newbuild hull has been selected to accommodate for 30 years lifetime of the field.

“BM-C-33 is a key project in our portfolio and concept select is an important milestone in our effort to mature the project. It is important to further optimise and improve the project business case to make it more robust for future market”, said Geir Tungesvik, senior vice president for projects at Equinor.

The gas export solution is based on an integrated offshore gas pipeline from the FPSO to a new dedicated onshore gas receiving facility inside the Petrobras TECAB site at Cabiúnas, before connecting to the domestic gas transmission network.

Veronica Coelho, Equinor’s country manager in Brazil, said: “BM-C-33 holds substantial volumes of gas. A completion of the ongoing liberalization of the natural gas market in Brazil in line with the current plan is key for the further development of the project”.

Gas export capacity is planned for 16 Mm3/day with average exports expected to be 14 Mm3/day, which represents a significant volume based on current Brazilian gas demand. Daily oil processing capacity is of 20,000 m3.

The concept select is a conclusion of a technical and commercial assessment of various developing concepts and landfalls.

Equinor explained that the chosen concept provides the most robust solution to develop the BM- C-33 project and gas value chain.

Equinor also said that details on the project timeline towards the next decision gates and the start of production are still to be concluded.