Strike steel ceremony held for ‘largest FPSO in Petrobras’ history’

A steel-cutting ceremony has been held for one of the two floating storage, production, and offloading (FPSO) units Singapore-headquartered Seatrium is building for Brazil’s state-owned giant Petrobras.

The start of construction on FPSO P-84, described as the “largest FPSO in Petrobras’ history,” was marked with a ceremony held on November 15 at the CIMC Raffles Offshore’s Yantai shipyard in China. Seatrium is building this FPSO and its P-85 sibling, both of which are set to be deployed at the pre-salt Santos Basin off the coast of Brazil, the first at the Sépia and the second at the Atapu field.

The vessel pair will feature an all-electric concept, which is said to be a first for the Brazilian giant. The project aims to be greener with better energy use and lower CO2 generation, with a forecasted up to 30% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

Some technologies the project will feature include variable frequency converters on all pumps and compressors, hydrocarbon (HC) blanketing, flare gas recovery system (FGRS), and water abstraction at large depths The unit will be able to process 275,000 barrels per day (bpd) of liquid, including 225,000 bpd of oil, and 10 million cubic meters of gas. 

The contract for the construction of the FPSO P-84 was signed in May with Seatrium, which subcontracted CIMC Raffles Offshore for the construction of the hull and KBR to develop topside facilities. American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) was handpicked to class the newbuild duo.

In October, Spanish Tubacex was awarded a strategic contract by the Brazilian giant. The €64.5 million gig covers over 80 kilometers of corrosion-resistant alloy oil country tubular goods (CRA OCTG) pipes, premium connections, and accessories for deepwater extraction at depths of 2,197 meters.

The pipelines will connect to the P84 and P85 platforms, located approximately 250 kilometers offshore. Deliveries are scheduled to start in 2025 as each injector well reaches completion.

FPSO P-84 will operate in the Santos Basin, in the Atapu field, which is operated by Petrobras (65.7%) in partnership with Shell (16.7%), TotalEnergies (15%), Petrogal Brasil (1.7%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) (0.9%).

FPSO P-85, set to operate in the Sépia field, is 55.3%-owned by Petrobras, with partners TotalEnergies (16.9%), Petronas (12.7%), QatarEnergy (12.7%), and Petrogal Brasil (2.4%).

Another FPSO – Marechal Duque de Caxias – achieved its first oil late last month. The vessel is working at Petrobras’ third-largest oil field in the Santos Basin, Mero field. An additional two FPSOs, being built by SBM Offshore, are set to start their assignments offshore Brazil next year.