TechnipFMC wins contract with Petrobras worth over $1 billion

TechnipFMC has secured a “major” integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (iEPCI) contract with Brazilian state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras for a project offshore Brazil.

TechnipFMC reported it had won the contract to deliver the Mero 3 HISEP project which uses subsea processing to capture carbon dioxide-rich dense gases and then inject them into the reservoir.

The two companies have advanced the qualification of some of the core technologies needed to deliver the HISEP (High-Pressure Separation) process entirely subsea, several of which are proprietary and will be used in other subsea applications. These include gas separation systems and dense gas pumps which enable the injection of CO2-rich dense gas.

The contract covers the design, engineering, manufacture, and installation of subsea equipment, including manifolds, flexible and rigid pipes, umbilicals, power distribution, and life of field services. It follows a tender process and aligns with research and development guidance established by the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

TechnipFMC defines a “major” contract as one worth over $1 billion.

Luana Duffé, Executive Vice President, New Energy at TechnipFMC, said: “This is an important moment for our Company. With the HISEP project, we will again demonstrate how our leadership in subsea processing, technology innovation, and integrated solutions can deliver real and sustainable benefits to our partners. We are honored to be trusted by Petrobras and its partners in the Libra Consortium to deliver this transformational project.”

The Mero 3 project in Brazil’s pre-salt field will be the first to utilize Petrobras’s patented HISEP process subsea. HISEP technologies enable the capture of CO2-rich dense gases directly from the well stream, moving part of the separation process from the topside platform to the sea floor. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity, the technologies, supported by Petrobras and its partners in the Libra Consortium, are said to increase production capacity by debottlenecking the topside gas processing plant.

The Mero field produces around 230,000 barrels of oil and 15 million m3 of gas every day. The Libra Consortium consists of Petrobras as operator (38.6%), Shell Brasil Petróleo (19.3%), TotalEnergies EP Brasil (19.3%), CNOOC Petroleum Brasil (9.65%), CNODC Brasil Petróleo e Gas (9.65%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo (3.5%), as the Brazilian government’s representative in the non-contracted area.

Mero is the third largest field in Brazil, after Tupi and Búzios, also located in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin. Petrobras revealed plans in 2023 to put 11 additional FPSO units into operation in the pre-salt layer offshore Brazil by 2027, which are anticipated to boost production, enabling it to reach 2.4 million boe.

Petrobras just recently kicked off production from the second development phase of the Mero field.