SBM Offshore’s giant FPSO switches to oil production mode at Petrobras’ deepwater field

Brazilian state-owned energy heavyweight Petrobras has confirmed the first oil from a new floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) unit, owned by the Netherlands-based SBM Offshore, as the vessel has begun operations at a huge field in the pre-salt Santos Basin off the coast of Brazil.

Petrobras has brought online the first high-capacity unit, known as the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré, to be installed in the Búzios field, as part of its sixth production system, called Búzios 7, contributing to the field reaching a production level of 1 million barrels of oil per day, expected by the second half of 2025.

With the potential to produce up to 225,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and process 12 million cubic meters of gas daily, the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré was leased from SBM Offshore following a binding letter of intent (LoI) in February 2021 and the signing of contracts with Petrobras for the 26.25-year lease and operation of the unit in July 2021. 

The vessel is named after Joaquim Marques Lisboa, Marquis of Tamandaré, a 19th-century military hero and admiral of Brazil’s Imperial Army. The FPSO, which is equipped with decarbonization technologies, such as a closed flare system that helps curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions into the atmosphere, also features heat recovery technologies that reduce the demand for additional energy.

The Búzios consortium consists of Petrobras (operator), the Chinese partners, CNOOC and CNODC, alongside Pré-Sal Petróleo S/A (PPSA), a company responsible for managing production-sharing contracts (PSCs).

While announcing “another giant in the pre-salt,” PPSA underlined: “Today, the Búzios field is already the second largest oil producer in the Union. With the entry of Almirante Tamandaré, the production of Búzios will increase even more, which, in the short term, will already reflect in positive results for the whole society.”

Located in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin, the project is envisioned to have 15 wells connected through a subsea infrastructure, including 7 oil producers, 6 water and gas injectors, 1 convertible well (producer and injector), and 1 gas injector.

Petrobras anticipates that Búzios will shortly become its largest producing field, reaching 2 million barrels per day by 2030. The FPSO Almirante Tamandaré is part of the field’s floating production set, consisting of five other FPSOs operating at the field: P-74, P-75, P-76, P-77, and Almirante Barroso.

The Búzios field started production in 2018 and is said to be the largest field in the world in ultra-deep waters, which already accounts for over 20% of Petrobras’ total production.

The firm plans to spend the biggest slice of its $111 billion investment for the next five years on oil and natural gas, while the total spending in the energy transition arena is expected to reach $16.3 billion.