Oil and gas production has started from FPSO Guanabara offshore Brazil, the first definitive production system installed in the Petrobras-operated Mero field, in the Santos Basin pre-salt. Three more FPSOs are planned for deployment at the Mero field.
The Mero field has been in pre-production since 2017 with the 50,000 barrels of oil per day Pioneiro de Libra FPSO.
The Guanabara FPSO is capable of processing up to 180 thousand barrels of oil and 12 million m3 of gas, which represents 6% of the production operated by Petrobras, contributing to the company's expected production growth.
Mero is the third biggest pre-salt oil field behind only Búzios and Tupi. The FPSO, built and operated by Modec, arrived at the Mero field in late January 2022.
Following the arrival, the 332 meters long FPSO Guanabara was connected to wells and subsea equipment and underwent final tests before starting production.
In the first batch, six producing wells and seven injectors will be connected to the FPSO. The FPSO is expected to reach peak production by the end of 2022.
“The production start-up of the first permanent FPSO in Libra block is a new milestone for TotalEnergies in Brazil. This start-up, along with the entry into Atapu and Sépia fields, officially signed on April 27, will increase TotalEnergies production in the pre-salt Santos Basin, a key growth area for the company, by 30,000 barrels per day in the second quarter and by 60,000 barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2022 to reach 120,000 barrels per day by end of 2022. said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, Petrobras' partner in the Mero field.
“This development will continue with the addition of three FPSOs in the coming years, all already under construction, which will deliver products of more than 650,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2026. With large resources and a well productivity amongst the best in the world, this development illustrates TotalEnergies’ strategy of focusing on low cost, low emissions assets.”
The FPSO is located more than 150 km off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro in water depths of up to 1,930 meters.
CO2 management
The FPSO Guanabara has gas re-injection systems, where the gas production with 45% carbon dioxide (CO2) content, after self-consumption in the FPSO, will be all re-injected into the reservoir to maintain pressure and improve oil recovery, in addition to reducing the release of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The gas re-injection will be done alternately with water injection (Water Alternating Gas - WAG).
"Additionally, the Mero field is developing an unprecedented technology to separate, on the seabed, CO2-rich gas from oil for reinjection from the seabed, reducing the amount of gas reaching the FPSO, thus increasing the FPSO's availability to oil and the project's efficiency," Petrobras said.
"The Mero 1 project is part of one of the most robust CO2 capture, use and geological storage programs in the world - called CCUS. These initiatives are aligned with Petrobras' commitment to reduce carbon intensity in the Exploration & Production area by 32% by 2025," Petrobras said.
The unitized Mero field is operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell Brasil Petroléo Ltda (19.3%), TotalEnergies EP Brasil Ltda. (19.3%), CNODC Brasil Petróleo e Gás Ltda (9.65%), CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda (9.65%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A-PPSA (3.5%), as the Federal Union's representative in the non-contracted area.
In 2023, production is planned to begin from Mero 2 (FPSO Sepetiba), in 2024 from Mero 3 (FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias), and in 2025 from Mero 4 (PSO Alexandre de Gusmão). Each FPSO will have a production capacity of 180,000 barrels a day.