Petrobras' focus on pre-salt deep waters combines substantial reserves, high productivity and resilience even in low oil price scenarios

Finally, the first of four Petrobras FPSO's arrived in Brazil, in the third largest pre-salt field, in the Santos Basin! The Brazilian state-owned giant informed yesterday (02/02), in a fact relevant to the market, that the platform ship Guanabara arrived at the Mero field, located in the Libra Block, in the Santos Basin pre-salt. The platform, of the FPSO type (floating oil production, storage and transfer unit), will be the first definitive system to operate in Mero, the third largest pre-salt field (after Búzios and Tupi).

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According to Petrobras, the FPSO Guanabara will be connected to the wells, subsea equipment, and will carry out final tests in the coming months before starting production, which is scheduled for the first half of this year.

The unit was converted and integrated in the DSIC shipyard, in Dalian – China. After leaving China, it stopped for about 2 months at the Drydocks World Dubai (DDWD) shipyard, in Dubai, where commissioning activities were carried out.

FPSO Guanabara converted in China and commissioned in Dubai, has the capacity to produce up to 180 thousand barrels of oil per day (bpd) and process 12 million m3 of gas

With the capacity to produce up to 180 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and process 12 million m3 of gas, the FPSO Guanabara will be the first in a series of four definitive platforms scheduled for the Mero field within the horizon of the Strategic Plan 2022- 2026. The unit will be installed more than 150 km from the coast, at a depth that reaches 1.930 meters, equivalent to four times the height of Morro do Pão de Açúcar.

The platform has a height of 172 meters, equivalent to 4,6 statues of Christ the Redeemer and a length of 332 meters, or three soccer fields. In addition, it has a power generation capacity of 100 megawatts, enough to supply a city of 330 inhabitants.

The development of the Mero field will be decisive for Petrobras to maintain the accelerated pace of pre-salt production

“The development of the Mero field will be decisive for us to maintain the accelerated pace of pre-salt production. In addition, it reflects our strategy of focusing on deepwater assets, which combine substantial reserves, high productivity and resilience even in scenarios of low oil prices. Mero also enshrines the integrated work with our partners and suppliers, in addition to promoting innovative and sustainable solutions, which have expanded the technological limits of the world oil industry”, said Petrobras Exploration and Production director, Fernando Borges.

One of these innovative solutions in the development of production in this field is an unprecedented technology, focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the productivity and efficiency of the project: the HISEP®, equipment that will remove the excess gas rich in CO2 present in Mero. The technology is a Petrobras patent, with the potential to increase production and efficiency in the field, in addition to reducing costs and gas emissions. The forecast is that the HISEP® will start operating connected to the third definitive platform scheduled for the Mero field.

The Libra Consortium is operated by Petrobras (40%), in partnership with Shell Brasil (20%), TotalEnergies (20%), CNPC (10%) and CNOOC Limited (10%), with Pré-Sal as manager. Petróleo SA (PPSA).