Petrobras kicks off bidding process for ninth Búzios FPSO

Brazilian oil and gas giant Petrobras has started the bidding process for the acquisition of a new FPSO for the Búzios field, located in the Santos Basin pre-salt area.

Called P-80, the FPSO vessel will be the ninth unit to operate in the field, with the capacity to process 225 thousand barrels of oil and 12 million cubic meters of gas per day, Petrobras said on Saturday.

According to Petrobras, just like FPSO Almirante Tamandaré, which is currently under construction, the P-80 will be the biggest oil production unit to operate in Brazil and one of the biggest in the world.

To remind, the Almirante Tamandaré will be the sixth unit of the definitive system to be installed in the Buzios field.

Petrobras in February 2021 signed a letter of intent with SBM Offshore for the chartering and provision of services of this FPSO, which will be installed on the Búzios field.

The ninth Búzios unit, the P-80, is expected to start operating in 2026.

The unit will be contracted under the EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) modality.

It is the result of Petrobras’ strategy to develop new projects for its own platforms, incorporating the lessons learned from the FPSOs that have already been installed in the pre-salt, including contracting and construction aspects.

As detailed by Petrobras, the contracting model foresees the participation, by means of public pre-qualification, of national and international companies, all with recognized experience.

Petrobras continues to use the concept of standardized projects as a reference for these contracts, incorporating standardization of specifications and a market approach model.

Innovations were also implemented, such as: a mechanism to treat and reinject the water produced in the reservoir; technologies to reduce the emission of pollutant gases; and the incorporation of systems that reduce the need for diving for hull inspection.

The Búzios field, discovered in 2010, is the largest deep-water oil field in the world. It should reach the end of the decade with daily production above 2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, becoming the Petrobras asset with the highest production.

Currently, there are four units operating in Búzios, which account for more than 20 per cent of Petrobras’ total production.

The fifth and sixth platforms, FPSOs Almirante Barroso and Almirante Tamandaré, are under construction, and the seventh and eighth units (FPSOs P-78 and P-79) are in the contracting process.

Keppel has recently confirmed it is in talks with Petrobras for a contract to build an FPSO for the Buzios field. The shipbuilder has not revealed any further details about the FPSO.