Equinor to install Brazil's largest FPSO

Norway's Equinor, together with partners ExxonMobil and Petrogal, closed the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts with early commitments and pre-investments for phase 1 of the Bacalhau area (formerly Carcará) in the BM-S-8 block in the Santos basin, off Brazil's São Paulo state.   

Subsea Integration Alliance (SAI) formed by Subsea7 and OneSubsea has been selected for the SURF (subsea, umbilical, risers and flowlines) contract and Modec for the FPSO contract, Equinor said in a statement on Thursday. No contract values were released.

The unit will be the largest FPSO in Brazil with production capacity of 220,000b/d, in addition to 530Mf3/d of associated gas and will inject up to 200,000b/d of seawater. Its minimum storage capacity of crude oil will be 2Mb and it will be permanently moored at a water depth of approximately 2,050m.  

Modec will operate the FPSO for the first year and after that Equinor said it plans to operate the facilities until the end of the license period in 2053. The contract is based on a two-step award. The FEED and pre-investment start immediately, with an option for the execution phase under a lump-sum turnkey contract setup which includes engineering, procurement, construction and installation for the entire FPSO scopes, the company said. 

The option for the contract is subject to Equinor's planned investment decision for the Bacalhau project late this year, Modec said in a separate release.  

The development will include 19 wells, approximately 130km of rigid risers and flowlines and 35km of umbilicals, Subsea7 said in a statement.   

The Bacalhau field will contribute to Equinor’s target of producing 300,000 to 500,000b/d in Brazil by 2030, the company said. In November, the company's operated production in the country amounted to 65,671b/d of oil and 111Mm3/d of natural gas, according to regulator ANP.  

Equinor has 40% of the field and is the operator, while ExxonMobil also has 40% and Portugal's Petrogal 20%.