New O&G platforms will come to Brazil

As Brazilian oil and gas exploration and production activities accelerate, at least four new platforms will be hired.

Local firm Enauta, for example, is due to begin this month the process to hire an FPSO for the definitive production system in Atlanta field shallow waters, in Santos basin.

So far, the field has been run under an anticipated production system by FPSO Petrojarl I, owned by Teekay, with capacity of 30,000b/d of oil and 225,500m3/d of natural gas. A company spokesperson told BNamericas that the definitive unit should come into production by the end of 2022 with a capacity to produce between 50,000 and 70,000b/d of oil. Enauta expects to invest US$38mn in the implementation of the system.

Meanwhile, state-run Petrobras has begun hiring the Parque das Baleias platform with the capacity to produce 100,000b/d of oil and 5Mm3/f of natural gas in addition to the Itapu unit with capacity for 120,000b/d of oil and 3Mm3/f of natural gas. The firm is also preparing the hiring process for the Sergipe-Alagoas unit, with capacity for 100,000b/d of oil and 10.5Mm3/d of gas. The three units will come online in 2022 and 2023. More details will be unveiled in December when Petrobras presents its 2020-24 business plan.

Shell has also begun a hiring process. A company spokesperson confirmed to BNamericas that the firm invited contractors to present offers for an FPSO for the Gato do Mato area, offshore Santos basin. As the company wants to accelerate project delivery, it is considering several scenarios and will narrow down the specifications for the unit only after it has further information on drilling activities in the area.

Shell declined to comment on FPSO details and subsea architecture "as the company is proceeding with the tender process and project technical evaluations.”

CHANGES

Petrobras is studying changes to hiring processes for platforms. Production development and technology director Rudimar Lorenzatto said the company mulls to have the units built instead of chartering them. The move comes in response to rising charter costs as result of higher demand for platforms to develop discoveries in Guyana.

If this solution is adopted, the company could contract one single company to provide the hull, modules, and take care of the integration process, all of which have traditionally been the responsibility of several firms.

“We want a single company to be responsible for the scope, schedule, and cost (of the platform). With that, we believe we will have better cost and time solutions,” Lorenzatto told reporters during an event last week.