SBM Offshore bids welcome to its ninth FPSO in Brazilian waters (Gallery)

Netherlands-based SBM Offshore, a provider of the design, construction, installation, and operation of offshore floating facilities, has corroborated the arrival of a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel to the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin, which will be the fifth addition to Petrobras’ huge oil field off the coast of Brazil once it flows its first oil later this year.

Petrobras announced the entrance of the FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão in Brazil on March 5, 2025. The vessel will work on the Brazilian state-owned energy giant’s Mero field as the fifth definitive system installed approximately 160 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, enabled by a 22.5-year lease and operation contract with SBM Offshore.

The Dutch FPSO heavyweight confirmed the FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão’s arrival at the Mero field in the Santos Basin, substantiating the Brazilian giant’s timeline for the first oil anticipated later in 2025. The milestone comes in the wake of the recent arrival of the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré, which began production on February 15, both being part of Petrobras’ fleet.

While explaining that the FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão is its ninth unit of this type in Brazil, SBM Offshore underlined the FPSO’s production capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil per day and 12 million cubic meters of gas per day.

Bruno Giusti, R1 Operations Director at SBM Offshore, commented: “This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our teams, who have worked tirelessly to bring this project to fruition.

“The addition of this vessel to our fleet marks a significant milestone in our operations and reinforces our commitment to excellence and innovation in the sector. Welcome to the fleet, FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão!”

SBM Offshore’s latest fleet addition will join four other FPSO units operating at Mero: Pioneiro de Libra, Guanabara, Sepetiba, and Marechal Duque de Caxias. The unitized Mero field is governed by the Libra production sharing agreement (PSA).

As the latest vessel is designed to receive the high-pressure separator (HISEP) technology, patented by Petrobras to enable the subsea separation of extracted oil and the associated gas, rich in CO2, and reinjected directly into the reservoir from the seabed, the unit is anticipated to operate with greater energy efficiency and slash environmental impact and emissions intensity.

The Libra consortium is operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell Brasil (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNPC (9.65%), CNOOC (9.65%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) (3.5%), representing the government in the non-contracted area.

Meanwhile, SBM Offshore is busy with multiple projects, including a recent award of a study, covering the design and the commercial evaluation of various carbon capture systems’ configurations to be installed on future FPSOs for Petrobras.