Petrobras FPSO Arrives At Mero Field

The FPSO Guanabara has arrived at the Mero field, located in the Libra Block in the Brazilian offshore pre-salt Santos Basin, oil and gas giant Petrobras said.

Petrobras said that the FPSO would be the first definitive system to operate in Mero, the third-largest pre-salt field behind Búzios and Tupi.

The unit will be connected to the wells, subsea equipment, and will carry out final tests in the coming months, before starting production, scheduled for the first half of this year. First production was postponed in the spring of 2021 due to delays in construction caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Japan’s MODEC was responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, mobilization, installation, and operation of the FPSO Guanabara, including topsides, processing equipment, and hull and marine systems.

The FPSO Guanabara was converted and integrated by the DSIC shipyard in China. After leaving China, it stopped for about two months at the Drydocks World Dubai shipyard in Dubai, where commissioning activities were carried out.

With the capacity to produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day and process 423.7 million cubic feet of gas, the FPSO Guanabara will be the first in a series of four definitive platforms scheduled for the Mero field. The unit will be installed more than 93 miles from the coast, in a water depth that reaches 6,300 feet.

“The development of the Mero field will be decisive for us to maintain the accelerated pace of pre-salt production. Furthermore, it reflects our strategy of focusing on deepwater assets, which combine substantial reserves, high productivity, and resilience even in low oil price scenarios,” said Petrobras’ director of E&P Fernando Borges.

“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”, Borges added.

Petrobras is also working on a solution that is focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the productivity and efficiency of the project. The HISEP equipment will remove excess gas rich in CO2 and present in Mero.

The company started a hunt for suppliers to design, construct, install, and test the High-Pressure Separation technology (HISEP) in January 2022. The technology aims to separate and reinject gas with high CO2 content produced alongside the oil while still on the seabed.

The Libra Consortium which owns the Mero field is operated by Petrobras. The Brazilian company holds 40 percent. Shell and TotalEnergies have 20 percent each while CNPC and CNOOC hold 10 percent each.

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