Petrobras Will Issue Notice for Sale of P-7, P-12, and P-15 and Prepares to Decommission Another 4 by 2021

Petrobras’ Divestment Program Reaches Seven Platforms, All Nearing End of Their Useful Life, Estimated at Thirty Years

Everyone knows that Petrobras is selling a good portion of its assets, but now the oil company announces the launch of a bidding notice for the end of next year, aiming to auction three platforms that are already out of operation, as previously announced by Clik Petróleo e Gás.
The units will be the P-7, P-12, and P-15 platforms, which according to market reports, are valued between US$ 250 thousand and US$ 400 thousand each.

In the short term, by the end of 2021, Petrobras plans to sell four more platforms, all of which are nearing the end of their useful life of 30 years.
The next units to be decommissioned would be P-33 (Marlim field) and PCA-1, 2, and 3 (Cação field). The first is expected to be auctioned, like the first three, but the fixed PCA platforms should be sold through a bidding process to hire a specialized company for platform dismantling (decommissioning).

The bidding process for the decommissioning of the Cação platforms is already underway at Petrobras, and since the P-33 will also undergo the same process, this market promises to become very promising in Brazil.
According to a survey by Sigma Consulting and Expertise, there are about 73 platforms in the country that can be retired from operation due to old age, creating a sea of opportunities for companies in the sector.

Promising Market

Sigma and the MacLaren shipyard in Niterói, keeping an eye on the evolution of the decommissioning market, created the Integrated Decommissioning Center (CID) which is prepared to dismantle and clean the parts and even scrap the material, according to the director of Sigma, Mauricio Almeida.

The platforms would have two destinations to be chosen by Petrobras: they can either be taken to a CID for cutting and sold to steel mills inside or outside of Brazil, or they can be sold to small operators of mature fields (declining production).

Despite these units being auctioned by Petrobras being the oldest in the company, as they went into operation in the 1980s, in the Campos Basin, there is still a possibility of small oil companies being interested in acquiring them instead of scrapping them.

The auction of second-hand platforms is not a new thing at Petrobras; recently the company has already conducted a bidding process to sell two other units, the P-27 and P-34.

Also see! SBM Offshore has just secured contracts from Petrobras for the construction of an FPSO for the pre-salt! The unit would be for the Mero Field! Click here for details!