Petrobras starts up FPSO Cidade de Maricá (Brazil)

Brazil’s Petrobras has started production from the FPSO Cidade de Maricá, located in the Lula field, in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil. 

The Cidade de Maricá is a floating, production, storage and offloading unit that produces, stores and transfers oil. The vessel is located at approximately 270 kilometers from the coast, at a water depth of 2,120 meters.

According to Petrobras, with a daily production capacity of up to 150,000 barrels of oil and 6 million cubic meters of gas, this is the seventh major definitive production system in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin.

With this additional unit, the pre-salt layer of the Santos and Campos basins already accounts for 35% of Brazil’s oil production.

Route 2 gas pipeline start-up

Moving ahead with the expansion of the production capacity of the Santos basin, last Friday, February 12, Petrobras began operating the second transportation route for natural gas produced in the pre-salt layer of this basin through a gas pipeline called Route 2.

With 401 kilometers of extension, Petrobras says that Route 2 is the longest subsea gas pipeline in operation in Brazil and has daily transportation capacity of 13 million cubic meters of gas, connecting the production systems of the pre-salt layer of the Santos basin with the gas Treatment Terminal of Cabiúnas in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro. This Terminal had its daily processing capacity increased to 28.4 million cubic meters in order to receive gas from the pre-salt layer of the Santos and Campos basins.

Route 2 will be connected to the Route 1 gas pipeline, in operation since 2011 and with a daily transportation capacity of additional 10 million cubic meters.

With this new gas pipeline, total installed capacity for the transportation of natural gas from the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin reaches 23 million cubic meters per day, allowing an increase in oil production and an expansion in national gas supply to the Brazilian market.

The Lula Alto and Lula Central areas are located in the BM-S-11 concession, operated by Petrobras (65%), in partnership with BG E&P Brasil Ltda – a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc (25%), and Petrogal Brasil S.A. (10%).

The Cernambi-Tecab pipeline is owned by the Consortium Cabiúnas 1, operated by Petrobras (55%) in partnership with BG E & P Brazil Ltda – a subsidiary company of Royal Dutch Shell plc (25%), RepsolSinopec Brasil SA (10%) and Petrogal Brasil S.A (10%).