Brazilian oil company Petrobras has signed a letter of intent with Malaysia's MISC Berhad for the chartering and services of an FPSO to be deployed at the Mero 3 development offshore Brazil.
The FPSO to be named Marechal Duque de Caxias will be installed in the Mero field, belonging to the Libra Block, in Santos Basin pre-salt, as part of the development of the block's southern portion, where the Mero 3 Project is located.
The Mero 3 FPSO will be the third unit to be installed in the Mero field and will have a processing capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil and 12 million m3 of gas per day. The term of the charter and service agreements is 22 and a half years, counting from the final acceptance of the unit, scheduled for the first half of 2024.
The project foresees the interconnection of 15 wells to the FPSO, with 8 oil producers and 7 water and gas injectors, through a subsea infrastructure composed of rigid production and injection ducts, flexible service ducts and control umbilicals.
Petrobras said that the Libra consortium intends to carry out, for the first time in the Mero 3 area, a pilot test of the HISEP - High Pressure Separation technology, developed and patented by Petrobras, which consists of subsea separation and reinjection, through the use of centrifugal pumps, of a large part of the CO2 produced along with the oil, allowing the oil processing plant to be relieved in the FPSO and consequently allowing oil production to increase. HISEP is currently being defined and tested, Petrobras said.
After qualification, a pilot can be installed in Mero 3 to perform longer-term tests and evaluate the technology.
The Mero field is the third largest of the pre-salt and is located in the Libra area, operated by Petrobras (40%) in partnership with Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda. (20%), Total E&P do Brasil Ltda. (20%), CNODC Brasil Petróleo e Gás Ltda. (10%), CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda. (10%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA), which acts as manager of this agreement.
AOG Digital E-News is the subsea industry's largest circulation and most authoritative ENews Service, delivered to your Email three times per week