oleocene.org

Shell greenlights Gato do Mato project in Brazil’s Santos Basin
The Gato do Mato project, which is expected to begin production in 2029, will feature an FPSO vessel with a capacity of 120,000 barrels per day

Swagath Bandhakavi 24th Mar 2025

Shell, through its subsidiary, Shell Brasil Petróleo (Shell Brasil), has sanctioned the Gato do Mato gas-condensate project in Brazil’s pre-salt Santos Basin.

The final investment decision (FID) allows Shell and its partners to advance the deep-water development towards production.

Shell is the operator of the Gato do Mato consortium with a 50% stake. Its partners include Ecopetrol (30%) and TotalEnergies (20%).

Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) oversees the production-sharing contract.

The Gato do Mato project will include a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, designed to handle up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day. The estimated recoverable resource volume for the development is around 370 million barrels.

Production from the offshore Brazilian project is expected to begin in 2029.

The field spans two adjoining blocks, which are BM-S-54, secured under a concession contract in 2005, and Sul de Gato do Mato, acquired through a production-sharing agreement in 2017.

The site is located in waters between 1,750 and 2,050m deep, near the Rio de Janeiro coastline. Initially, natural gas will be reinjected into the reservoir to maintain pressure, with the option of future exports to onshore processing facilities.

Shell expects the investment to generate an internal rate of return above the required threshold for its upstream business.

The resource estimates fall under the Society of Petroleum Engineers’ Petroleum Resources Classification System at a P50 level, meaning there is an equal probability of actual recoverable volumes being higher or lower than forecasted.

Shell integrated gas and upstream director Zoë Yujnovich said: “Gato do Mato is an example of our ongoing investment in increasingly efficient projects.

“The project contributes to maintaining stable liquids production from our advantaged Upstream business, and expands our leadership as the largest foreign producer in Brazil as we continue working to provide for the world’s energy needs well into the future.”

MODEC was previously awarded the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for the FPSO unit supporting the project. The company will design the hull and topsides facilities, with the vessel to be anchored using a SOFEC Spread Mooring system at a depth of approximately 2,000m, about 250km offshore. The FPSO will store stabilised crude oil before it is transported to market using shuttle tankers.

Libra Consortium announces first oil at third FPSO in Brazil pre-salt

le 01/11/2024

Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda. (Shell Brasil), a subsidiary of Shell plc, announced the start of production of the floating production storage and offloading facility (FPSO) Marechal Duque de Caxias in the Mero field, in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil. Also known as Mero-3, the FPSO has an operational capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil per day. (Shell share 19.3%)

“Mero-3 demonstrates our commitment to increasingly efficient and competitive projects,” said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director. “Brazil is a material contributor to Shell’s deep-water oil and gas production, and through our ongoing partnership with Petrobras in the Mero field, we can help continue to deliver safe and secure energy from one of the country’s most productive fields.”

The FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias is located 200 kilometres from the coast of Rio de Janeiro in a water depth of 2,200 metres. Its predecessor, the FPSO Sepetiba (Mero-2), announced first production in December 2023. The FPSO Guanabara (Mero-1) started production in May 2022.


Final Investment Decision on Mero-3 was announced in August 2020.

Petrobras FPSO Produces First Oil in Jubarte Field

by Rocky Teodoro|Rigzone Staff | Thursday, October 17, 2024

The Maria Quitéria platform ship of Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) produced its first oil in the Jubarte field, pre-salt in the Espírito Santo portion of the Campos Basin off the southeastern coast of Brazil.

The floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit can produce up to 100,000 barrels of oil a day and process up to 5 million cubic meters of gas, Petrobras said in a news release. It will be interconnected to a total of eight producing wells and eight injectors. Initially targeted for 2025, production for FPSO Maria Quitéria started ahead of schedule.

The FPSO is equipped with technologies to reduce emissions with greater operational efficiency and a reduction of around 24 percent in operational greenhouse gas emissions, Petrobras noted. With a height of 156 meters and a length of 333 meters, the FPSO is installed at a water depth of 1,385 meters. It will also have the capacity to generate 100 megawatts (MW) of energy to supply a city of 230,000 inhabitants.

Petrobras is the sole holder of the production rights for the Jubarte field, located in the area known as Parque das Baleias in Espírito Santo.

The Parque das Baleias area is made up of the Jubarte, Baleia Anã, Cachalote, Caxaréu, Pirambú and Mangangá fields. The first field, Jubarte, was discovered in 2001. In 2019, Petrobras and the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) signed an agreement to extend the concession period until 2056 for the new unified Jubarte field. This enabled the implementation of FPSO Maria Quitéria, the latest production system for the Parque das Baleias Integrated Project, as well as complementary projects in the area, according to the release.

Three other platforms operate in Parque das Baleias: P-57, P-58, and FPSO Cidade de Anchieta. When Maria Quitéria starts operating at full load, this unit will account for around 40 percent of the field's production, Petrobras said.

The Jubarte field was also the site of a pilot project by the Brazilian oil major to increase production. In August, it validated technology that could increase production by roughly one percent.

The Lift and Flow Digital Twin technology developed by the Brazilian company ESSS was validated and is ready for use after two years of testing, Petrobras said in an earlier news release.

The company’s Cidade de Anchieta and P-57 FPSO platforms, operating in the Jubarte field in the Espírito Santo state’s pre-salt and post-salt layers, participated in the pilot project that demonstrated the effectiveness of the tool.

The technology provides real-time production system data, boosting the lift and flow process, which corresponds to carrying the oil produced from the bottom of the wells to the production platforms. The digital twin can also preempt incidents that may compromise production and enable solution virtual testing, according to the release.

According to Petrobras' Exploitation and Production Director Sylvia Anjos, “the Lift and Flow Digital Twin technology can be used in all Petrobras' offshore production and injection wells. We’ll start using the tools in maritime wells of other units no later than this year”.

“Petrobras devised a Digital Twin prototype that formed the basis to specify the technology. This preliminary solution was born in the Espírito Santo Business Unit (UN-ES). We needed to develop a similar but more robust, commercial, sustained, and scalable system for the company’s offshore wells,” Renata Baruzzi, Petrobras engineer, said.

Petrobras' Second FPSO in Mero Attains Top Production

by Rocky Teodoro|Rigzone Staff | Thursday, August 29, 2024 |


The floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel Sepetiba attained production of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in the Mero field.


Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) reported that Sepetiba, a platform ship that it chartered, has reached top production.

The floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel Sepetiba attained production of 180,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil in the Mero field, in the Santos Basin’s pre-salt layer, Petrobras said in a news release. The milestone was reached within the estimated time frame of eight months due to the promptness of the unit’s oil treatment and gas compression systems, including the good productivity of the well in the Mero Basin, the company noted.

The undersea interconnection process also helped Sepetiba reach top production since 100 percent of the wells were interconnected in advance, around five months before contractual milestones. Petrobras said its technicians reduced the time of the activity by 18 percent, consequently speeding up the FPSO’s gradual increase in oil production.

The FPSO Sepetiba was chartered from SBM Offshore and became operational on December 31, 2023. The platform lies roughly 111.8 miles (180 kilometers) off the Rio de Janeiro coast, anchored at a depth of 2,000 meters. According to SBM, it has a storage capacity of 1.4 million barrels of oil.

The FPSO is fitted out with innovative technologies that aim to increase efficiency and decarbonize activities such as CCUS (carbon capture, utilization, and storage), where the carbon dioxide-rich gas is reinjected into the reservoir, driving down greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, according to the release.

Petrobras said the Mero field now exceeds production of 410,000 bpd of oil. Mero is a unitized field, operated by Petrobras with a 38.6 percent interest, while TotalEnergies and Shell each hold 19.3 percent. The other partners are China National Petroleum Corp. and China National Offshore Oil Corp. with a 9.65 percent stake each, as well as PPSA (3.5 percent). Mero is the third largest field in Brazil in terms of volume of oil in place, behind only Tupi and Búzios, also located in the pre-salt Santos Basin.

In February, Petrobras announced that the FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias, chartered from MISC, was headed for the Mero field in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin offshore Brazil.

The platform will start operating in September and has the capacity to produce up to 180,000 bpd of oil and compress up to 12 million cubic meters of gas per day, the company said in an earlier news release. The unit will be part of Mero’s third production system and includes the interconnection of 15 wells to the unit, eight oil producers, and seven water and gas injectors using underwater infrastructure.

The FPSO platform will be interconnected to HISEP equipment, which will separate the oil and gas at the bottom of the ocean, from where it will reinject the carbon dioxide-rich gas. HISEP is a technology patented by Petrobras that can potentially increase production and relieve the surface gas processing plant while reducing the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions.

TotalEnergies : Démarrage de la production de la deuxième phase de développement du champ de Mero au Brésil

édité le 01/01/2024

TotalEnergies annonce le démarrage de la production de la deuxième phase de développement du champ de Mero, situé sur le bloc de Libra, à plus de 180 kilomètres au large de Rio de Janeiro, au Brésil, dans le bassin pré-salifère de Santos.

Approuvée en juin 2019, cette deuxième phase, dite « Mero 2 », comporte une unité flottante de production, de stockage et de déchargement, le FPSO Sepetiba, d’une capacité de production de 180 000 barils de pétrole par jour (b/j). Le FPSO est conçu sans torchage de routine pour minimiser les émissions de gaz à effet de serre, le gaz associé étant réinjecté dans le réservoir.

Avec Mero 2, le champ de Mero atteindra une capacité de production de 410 000 b/j. Deux autres phases de développement de 180 000 b/j chacune, Mero 3 et Mero 4, sont en cours de développement, avec un démarrage prévu d’ici 2025. À pleine capacité, la quote-part de TotalEnergies de la production de Mero devrait dépasser 100 000 b/j.

Le démarrage de la production de Mero 2 marque une nouvelle étape pour TotalEnergies au Brésil, une zone prioritaire de croissance pour la Compagnie. Avec ses vastes ressources et une productivité de premier plan, le développement de Mero assure une production pétrolière à bas coût et faibles émissions, en cohérence avec la stratégie de notre Compagnie a déclaré Patrick Pouyanné, Président-Directeur général de TotalEnergiesl.

Mero est un champ unitisé, opéré par Petrobras (38,6 %) en partenariat avec TotalEnergies (19,3 %), Shell Brasil (19,3 %), CNPC (9,65 %), CNOOC (9,65 %) et Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A (PPSA) (3,5 %).

.....................

Brésil : TotalEnergies signe un contrat de partage de production pour le bloc offshore Agua Marinha

AOF•31/05/2023

TotalEnergies et ses partenaires Petrobras, QatarEnergy et Petronas Petróleo Brasil Ltda (PPBL) ont signé le 31 mai 2023 un contrat de partage de production pour le bloc Agua Marinha. Ce contrat a été remporté dans le cadre du dernier appel d'offres sous régime de partage de production organisé par l'Agence nationale du pétrole brésilienne (ANP) en décembre 2022. Agua Marinha est un bloc d'exploration de 1 300 km² situé dans le bassin pré-salifère de Campos, au sud du champ de Marlim Sul, à environ 140 km des côtes brésiliennes.

Le programme de travaux prévoit notamment un puits d'exploration à forer durant la période d'exploration.

TotalEnergies détiendra une participation de 30% dans le bloc, aux côtés de Petrobras, opérateur (30%), QatarEnergy (20%) et PPBL (20%).

MODEC Awarded Contract by Equinor to Supply the 2nd FPSO in Brazil

europetrole le 11/05/2023

MODEC, Inc. (MODEC) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Equinor Brasil Energia Ltd, a subsidiary of Equinor ASA (Equinor), to supply a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel to produce the field cluster of Pao de Acucar, Seat & Gavea in the BM-C-33 block of the Campos Basin offshore Brazil. The FPSO is one of the most complex facilities in MODEC’s history, handling large volumes of exported gas with a major focus on GHG emissions reduction.

The SPA is a two-phase lump sum turnkey contract covering both Front End Engineering Design (FEED) and Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) for the entire FPSO. As Equinor and partners announced the Final Investment Decision (FID) on May 8,2023 after the completion of the FEED which had started on April 2022, MODEC has now been awarded phase 2 of the contract for EPCI of the FPSO. MODEC will also provide Equinor with operations and maintenance service of the FPSO for the first year from its first oil production, after which Equinor plans to operate the FPSO.

The FPSO vessel will be deployed at the field, located in the giant "pre-salt" region at the southern part of Campos Basin, approximately 200 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, and permanently moored at a water depth of approximately 2,900 meters. The spread mooring system will be supplied by MODEC group company, SOFEC, Inc. Equinor's field partners are Repsol Sinopec Brazil (35%) and Petrobras (30%). The FPSO delivery is expected in 2027.

MODEC will be responsible for the design and construction of the FPSO, including topsides processing equipment and hull marine systems. The FPSO will have topsides designed to produce approximately 125,000 barrels of crude oil per day as well as produce and export approximately 565 million standard cubic feet of associated gas per day. Its minimum storage capacity of crude oil will be 2,000,000 barrels.

The FPSO will apply MODEC’s new build, full double hull design, developed to accommodate larger topsides and larger storage capacity than conventional VLCC tankers, with a longer design service life.

Taking advantage of this larger topside space, this FPSO will be the second fully electrified FPSO equipped with Combined Cycle System for Power Generation which significantly reduces carbon emission compared with conventional Gas Turbine driven systems.

“We are extremely honored and proud to be selected to provide an FPSO for the BM-C-33 project,” commented Takeshi Kanamori, President and CEO of MODEC. “We are equally proud of the confidence Equinor obviously has in MODEC. We believe this award represents a strong relationship of trust between us built upon the ongoing Bacalhau FPSO project as well as our robust track record in the pre-salt region. We look forward to cooperating closely with Equinor and partners to make this project a success.”

The FPSO will be 18th FPSO/FSO vessel and 10th FPSO in the pre-salt region delivered by MODEC in Brazil.

Petrobras' FPSO Guanabara Producing At Maximum Capacity

by Bojan Lepic|Rigzone Staff|Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Brazilian state-owned oil and gas major Petrobras has informed that the FPSO Guanabara installed in the Mero field in the Santos Basin pre-salt reached its maximum production capacity.

Petrobras said that the FPSO Guanabara hit the mark of 180,000 bpd, about eight months after the unit started operating.

The FPSO Guanabara achieved this result with four producing wells and three gas injectors. It is the first platform in a series of four definitive units scheduled for Mero, each capable of producing up to 180,000 bpd of oil.

According to the company, this performance is the result of the high productivity per well, the acceleration of the learning curve, and the use of state-of-the-art technologies in the field - such as the so-called loop configuration for the water and gas injection wells and the separation of CO2 by membranes.

“The result shows a ramp-up of production at a consistent pace, indicating the field's high productivity and a sound development strategy, within the strictest operational safety standards," said Petrobras' Chief Exploration and Production Officer Fernando Borges.

The FPSO Guanabara incorporates one of the most robust CCUS programs, since the Mero field has a 45 percent content of this gas, enabling the reduction of CO2 emissions.

Furthermore, Petrobras is developing, for application in the field, the subsea separation technology called HISEP – High-Pressure Separation. With it, it will be possible to separate the CO2-rich gas produced for reinjection into the reservoir on the seabed.

The Mero field holds not only the FPSO Guanabara but also the FPSO Pioneiro de Libra, which operates the Early Production System, currently producing 50,000 bpd. The FPSO Pioneiro de Libra Early Production System is dedicated to the evaluation of the field's production behavior. With the two units in operation, the Mero field currently produces about 230,000 bpd.

Mero – Third largest field in the country

In the second half of this year, Petrobras plans to install the second definitive platform in Mero – the FPSO Sepetiba, also capable of producing up to 180,000 bpd. By 2025, the company will put another two units into operation in the field, totaling five systems that together will correspond to 770,000 bpd of the installed capacity in the country.

Mero is Brazil's third largest field by volume of oil in place, behind only Tupi and Búzios, also located in the Santos Basin pre-salt.

The operation of the unitized Mero field is conducted by the Consortium operated by Petrobras, in partnership with Shell, TotalEnergies, CNODC Brasil, CNOOC, and Pré-Sal Petróleo as the Brazilian Government's representative in the non-contracted area.

TotalEnergies : lancement du projet Lapa South-West au Brésil

Boursier.com 16 janvier 2023

TotalEnergies annonce avoir approuvé la décision finale d'investissement pour le développement de Lapa South-West, situé dans le bassin de Santos, à 300 kilomètres environ des côtes brésiliennes. TotalEnergies est opérateur du projet avec une participation de 45%, en partenariat avec Shell (30%) et Repsol Sinopec (25%). Lapa South-West sera développé grâce à trois puits reliés au FPSO de Lapa, distant de 12 kilomètres, et qui produit actuellement la partie Nord-Est du champ de Lapa depuis 2016.

A sa mise en production, prévue en 2025, Lapa South-West augmentera la production du champ de Lapa de 25.000 barils de pétrole par jour, portant la production globale à 60.000 barils de pétrole par jour.

Ce développement représente un investissement d'environ un milliard de dollars.

"Ce nouveau projet est un jalon important pour TotalEnergies au Brésil, qui nous permettra d'augmenter notre production opérée dans le bassin pré-salifère de Santos, zone de croissance clé pour la Compagnie", a déclaré David Mendelson, directeur Amériques de l'Exploration-Production de TotalEnergies. "Compte tenu de sa conception et des synergies avec les installations existantes, ce projet illustre la stratégie de TotalEnergies, qui privilégie les actifs à bas coût et faibles émissions."

CNPC-participated Phase I of Mero oilfield (Libra project) in Brazil put into operation

Europetrole le 07/06/2022

Recently, the first production unit Guanabara FPSO (offshore floating production and storage vessel) of Mero oilfield of the Libra project participated by CNPC was successfully put into operation. Guanabara FPSO is the first large-scale production platform of Mero oilfield after the pilot production unit Pioneer FPSO was brought on stream. With a daily processing capacity of 180,000 barrels of crude oil and 12 million cubic meters of natural gas, Guanabara enjoys the largest production capacity in Brazil by far. The FPSO has a natural gas reinjection system, which can effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions and effectively improve recovery.

Located in Santos basin, Brazil, the Libra Mero oilfield is a world-class deep-water oilfield with a water depth of 1800-2200 meters and is 164 kilometers away from the coastline. The oilfield is comprised of four production units. After the first production unit was put into operation, the other three production units with the same capacity are being built in China's Tianjin, Yantai and Shanghai.

The Libra project in Brazil is both an important achievement of the in-depth cooperation between China and Brazil, and an important growth driver for China's overseas oil and gas production. It is of great significance for the sustainable development of the local economy and society, the promotion of the Belt and Road Initiative, and international energy cooperation. The project partners include CNPC, Shell, TotalEnergies, CNOOC, the operator Petrobras (the Brazilian national oil company) and PPSA (a Brazilian government supervised company).

Petrobras Starts Production From First Mero FPSO

by Paul Anderson|Rigzone Staff|Tuesday, May 03, 2022


Petrobras started producing oil and natural gas through the FPSO Guanabara on April 30.

Petrobras started producing oil and natural gas through the FPSO Guanabara on April 30, the first definitive production system installed in the Mero field, in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin offshore Brazil.

The FPSO can process up to 180,000 barrels of oil and over 420 million cubic feet of gas, which represents 6 percent of the production operated by Petrobras, contributing to the expected growth of the company's production. Mero is the Brazilian oil giant’s third-largest pre-salt oil field behind Búzios and Tupi.

The platform arrived at the Mero field at the end of January 2022. During this period, it was connected to subsea wells and equipment and underwent final tests before starting production. In the first wave, 6 producing wells and 7 injectors will be connected to the FPSO. The platform is expected to reach peak production by the end of 2022.

“The FPSO Guanabara is the most complex oil production unit operating in Brazil. The implementation of a project with this technology is the result of more than a decade of learning in the pre-salt layer and of the integrated action between Petrobras, partners, and suppliers. The project was designed to combine production capacity, efficiency, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions”, highlights João Henrique Rittershaussen, director of Production Development at Petrobras.

Built and operated by Modec, the unit is located some 100 miles off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro in a water depth that reaches 6,330 feet. In total, three more definitive platforms are scheduled to come into operation in the Mero field under Petrobras' Strategic Plan 2022-2026.

The FPSO Guanabara has gas reinjection systems, where the production of gas with a content of 45 percent of carbon dioxide will be all reinjected into the deposit to maintain pressure and improve the recovery of oil as well as reduce the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. The gas reinjection will be done alternately with water injection.

Additionally, the Mero field is developing an unprecedented technology for the separation of CO2-rich oil from oil on the seabed, for its reinjection from the seabed, reducing the amount of gas that reaches the FPSO, thus increasing the availability of oil FPSO and project efficiency.

According to Petrobras, the Mero 1 project is part of one of the most robust geological CO2 CCUS projects in the world. These initiatives are in line with Petrobras' commitment to reducing carbon intensity by 32 percent in the Exploration and Production area by 2025.

The Mero unitized field is operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNPC (9.65%), CNOOC Petroleum (9.65%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo (3.5%).

TotalEnergies lance la production sur le champ pétrolier de Mero 1 au Brésil

REUTERS•02/05/2022

TotalEnergies a annoncé lundi avoir démarré la production du champ pétrolier de Mero 1, situé à plus de 150 kilomètres au large de Rio de Janeiro, au Brésil.

"Ce démarrage permettra d'augmenter la production de TotalEnergies dans le bassin pré-salifère de Santos (...) de 30.000 barils par jour au deuxième trimestre et de 60.000 barils par jour au quatrième trimestre 2022, pour atteindre près de 120.000 barils par jour à fin 2022", a déclaré le président-directeur général, Patrick Pouyanné.

Le groupe pétrolier a lancé la première phase (Mero 1) en 2017.

Elle sera suivie de trois autres phases de développement, avec les FPSO Mero 2, Mero 3 et Mero 4, ayant chacune une capacité de production de 180.000 barils par jour et dont les démarrages sont prévus entre 2023 et 2025, a déclaré le groupe dans un communiqué.

TotalEnergies Pays Up For Atapu Stake

by Paul Anderson|Rigzone Staff|Friday, April 29, 2022

Brazilian oil major Petrobras has received the compensation of $934.3 million for the 22.5 percent stake in the Atapu offshore oil field from TotalEnergies.

The Atapu block was acquired by a consortium composed of operator Petrobras which holds 52.5 percent, Shell’s Brazilian unit which holds 25 percent, and TotalEnergies which holds the remaining 22.5 percent.

The block was awarded in the 2nd Bidding Round for the Transfer of Rights Surplus under the Production Sharing Regime on December 17, 2021.

Petrobras has previously already received $1.12 billion from Shell’s Brazilian subsidiary as compensation for the 25 percent stake in the Atapu block earlier in April, while TotalEnergies had been given a bit more time.

The signing of the Production Sharing Contract and the Co-participation Agreement were expected to be completed on April 27, 2022.

The Atapu field is a pre-salt oil field in the Santos Basin, located in water depths of about 6,500 feet. Production started in 2020 and has reached a plateau of 160,000 barrels per day with the first FPSO vessel.

A second FPSO is planned to be sanctioned, which would increase the overall oil production of the field to around 350,000 barrels per day.

TotalEnergies is also partnering with Petrobras on the Sepia field, the stakes for which have been awarded on the same day as those for the Atapu field.

TotalEnergies holds a 28 percent stake in the Sepia field. The two partners, apart from operator Petrobras with its 30 percent stake, are QatarEnergy and Petronas with 21 percent each.

The consortium won the rights to help expand Sepia by offering 37.43 percent in so-called profit oil to the government. Petrobras already operates the field and exercised its rights to a 30 percent stake.

Production at Sepia started in 2021 and is targeting a plateau of 180,000 barrels per day with a first FPSO. A second is planned to be sanctioned, which would increase the overall oil production of the field to around 350,000 barrels per day.

Petrobras Gets $1.12 Bn For Atapu Stake From Shell

by Bojan Lepic|Rigzone Staff|Friday, April 15, 2022

Brazilian oil major Petrobras has received $1.12 billion from Shell’s Brazil subsidiary as compensation for the 25 percent stake in the Atapu block.

The Atapu block was acquired by the consortium composed of Petrobras which holds a 52.5 percent stake, Shell which holds 25 percent, and the remaining 22.5 percent is held by TotalEnergies.

The stakes were awarded in the 2nd Bidding Round for the Transfer of Rights surplus under the Production Sharing Regime on December 17, 2021.

Petrobras said that it expected to receive the full payment regarding TotalEnergies' stake. The signing of the Production Sharing Contract and the Coparticipation Agreement is expected to occur by April 29, 2022.

The Atapu field is a pre-salt oil field in the Santos Basin, located in water depths of about 6,500 feet. Production started in 2020 and has reached a plateau of 160,000 barrels per day with a first floating, production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO).

A second FPSO is planned to be sanctioned, which would increase the overall oil production of the field to around 350,000 barrels per day.

The stake for the Atapu field was awarded on the same day as the stakes to the Sepia fields. There, TotalEnergies now holds a 28 percent interest. The two partners, apart from operator Petrobras with its 30 percent stake, are QatarEnergy with 21 percent, and Petronas with 21 percent.
.......................

CNOOC Takes Larger Cut In Petrobras Buzios Field For $2.1B

by Bojan Lepic|Rigzone Staff|Tuesday, March 08, 2022

Chinese oil and gas company CNOOC has completed the buy of additional interest in Petrobras’ Buzios field located in the Santos Basin pre-salt area offshore Brazil.

CNOOC and Petrobras have already, together with the Brazilian arm of the China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Development Company (CNODC), entered into a Buzios Coparticipation Agreement last year.

Under the deal, Petrobras received a cash payment of $2.9 billion for the obligations of its partners in late August 2021.

CNODC and CNOOC then had up to 30 days to express their interest in exercising the option to purchase an additional portion of 5 percent each in the Production Sharing Contract (PSC) for the Surplus of the Transfer of Rights.

At the time Petrobras held 90 percent of the rights to explore and produce oil at Buzios which is considered the largest deepwater oilfield in the world. It was acquired by the state-run oil company in 2019. CNOOC and CNODC also bought a 5 percent stake each in the field.

After the two Chinese companies entered the field, they both had then had up to 30 days to express their interest in exercising the option to purchase an additional portion of 5 percent each in Buzios. CNOOC was the only company to express such an interest.

Petrobras now stated that it signed a contract with CNOOC for the assignment of an additional 5 percent of its interest in the Production Sharing Contract of the Transfer of Rights Surplus for the Buzios field. The amount to be received in cash by Petrobras at the closing of the operation will be $2.12 billion

According to Petrobras, the price tag will still be subject to the usual adjustments in this type of contract between the base date and the closing date.

The effectiveness of this transaction is also subject to the approvals of the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels, and the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

After the transaction becomes effective, Petrobras will hold an 85 percent stake in the Production Sharing Contract of the Transfer of Rights Surplus of the Búzios field, while CNOOC will hold 10 percent, and CNODC will hold the remaining 5 percent.