Baker Hughes takes on deal to curb FPSO emissions from $9 billion oil & gas project

U.S. energy technology player Baker Hughes has been enlisted by Japan’s MODEC to supply gas technology equipment for a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which is destined to work at Equinor’s recently sanctioned oil and gas development in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil. This will lower the project’s carbon footprint.

According to Baker Hughes, it has been awarded a significant order – to be booked in the second quarter of 2023 – by MODEC to supply gas technology equipment for the BM-C-33 project in the Brazilian pre-salt Campos area, which is being developed by Equinor with partners: Repsol Sinopec Brasil and Petrobras.

Ganesh Ramaswamy, executive vice president of Industrial & Energy Technology at Baker Hughes, remarked: “This order is a testament of our established track record when it comes to technology for FPSO vessels. It also strengthens our relationship with MODEC and is a very important milestone in our collaboration with Equinor and its partners.

“We are honored that our proven solutions will contribute to reduce the project’s carbon footprint, aligning with Baker Hughes’ mission to take energy forward, making it more sustainable and safer.”

Furthermore, the order comprises turbomachinery equipment, including LM2500 gas turbine generators and steam turbine generator technology, for a combined cycle power generation solution to be installed in the BM-C-33 FPSO to reduce the project’s carbon footprint, as well as process design engineering and balance of plant.

The U.S. giant explains that combined cycles are “an important trend” in the offshore oil and gas industry, as they enable the reduction of the overall FPSO carbon emissions. In line with this, the company expects a more than 20 per cent carbon emissions reduction in this project versus similar open cycle FPSOs with the same power demand.

Moreover, Equinor and its partners expect the FPSO for the BM-C-33 project to be able to achieve a carbon intensity target of less than 6 kg/barrel of oil equivalent (boe) over the field’s lifetime, while the global industry average is 16 kg CO₂ per barrel. The FPSO is scheduled for delivery in 2027. 

The deal for this FPSO, which will work at the cluster consisting of the Pao de Acucar, Seat and Gavea fields in the BM-C-33 block of the Campos Basin offshore Brazil, was awarded to MODEC in May 2023. Equinor made the final investment decision to develop the project containing natural gas and oil/condensate recoverable reserves above one billion barrels of oil equivalent on 8 May 2023.

At the time, the Norwegian player also handed out a contract for subsea umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF) to TechnipFMC. The BM-C-33 block, located in water depths of up to 2,900 meters, was discovered by Repsol Sinopec in 2010 and Equinor took over the operatorship in 2016. The partners approved the development concept for the project in March 2021. 

This is the second combined cycle power generation FPSO project developed by Baker Hughes for MODEC and Equinor in Brazilian deep waters, following the award for the Bacalhau FPSO in 2020.