MODEC’s Brazil-bound FPSO sets the bar on sustainability for newbuild units of this type

Japan’s floating solutions provider MODEC has celebrated the approval in principle (AiP) bestowed upon its floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel for Abate notation from the classification society DNV, as this enables its newly built FPSO to become a low-emission benchmark and the world’s first vessel of this sort to sport the notation. The unit is destined to operate in ultra-deep waters of the Brazilian pre-salt.

After Norway’s Equinor made the final investment decision (FID) for the $8 billion Bacalhau project in June 2021, MODEC was tasked with delivering the FPSO Bacalhau, which marks the first application of the Japanese firm’s M350 hull, a next-generation newbuild hull for FPSOs. The vessel’s modules left Aibel’s Thai yard on January 23, 2024, to travel to Singapore, where they would be installed on board the unit. 

Following a comprehensive assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions mitigation on the unit per DNV guidelines, MODEC’s FPSO Bacalhau turned into the first-ever newbuild FPSO to receive the AiP for Abate notation, which is said to require stringent management of emission systems and the implementation of substantial abatement measures onboard to prevent non-emergency flaring and optimize the efficiency of power/heat generation.

As a result, the 364-meter long, 64-meter wide, and 33-meter deep unit, with a designed draft of 22.65 meters and a deck area of 17,400 square meters – equivalent to three standard football fields – has been positioned at the forefront of the industry for the lowest carbon emissions per barrel of oil produced, according to MODEC, which acknowledges Equinor’s foresight and willingness to initiate many of the technical requirements incorporated into the vessel that shaped it into an environmentally friendly FPSO.

Eric Powell, Vice President & COO of MODEC Singapore, commented: “Receiving the DNV Abate notation is an affirmation of our commitment towards the development of a sustainable future. We play our part in climate change mitigation by minimizing greenhouse gases and other emissions across our business operations and supply chain, and by developing clean energy solutions to achieve global goals.”

With a production capacity of 220,000 barrels per day, the FPSO Bacalhau will be deployed at the Bacalhau field which is situated across two licenses, BM-S-8 and Norte de Carcará, in the pre-salt region of the Santos Basin offshore Brazil. The first oil is anticipated in 2025.

The recoverable reserves, including the Bacalhau North area, are more than two billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Equinor operates the field in partnership with ExxonMobil, Petrogal Brasil, and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA).

MODEC has been a busy bee lately. In May, the Japanese giant wrapped up the keel laying for an FPSO hull getting constructed to work at ExxonMobil’s oil development offshore Guyana. The firm’s deal with Enauta recently fell through, enabling it to keep an FPSO employed at two offshore oil and gas fields in Brazil within its portfolio.