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New FPSO Advances Petrobras' Campos Basin E&P Ambitions

Yinson
FPSO Anna Nery (Yinson)

Published May 14, 2023 12:05 PM by The Maritime Executive

Plans by Brazil’s offshore oil giant Petrobras to revitalize the maturing Campos Basin are on track after the newly commissioned FPSO Anna Nery started production, a development that puts the company on course to produce 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) by 2027.

The new FPSO will have the capacity to produce up to 70,000 barrels of oil daily and process four million cubic meters of gas. The vessel has a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels.

Anna Nery is the second FPSO that Petrobras is deploying in the Campos Basin. Together with FPSO Anita Garibaldi, the units make up the first major revitalization project for the mature Marlim and Voador fields. 

“This is the largest project in the world in the recovery of mature assets in the offshore industry. Through it, we will increase production, maintain jobs and open an important learning and knowledge front for other similar projects throughout Brazil,” said Jean Paul Prates, Petrobras CEO.

Petrobras plans to deploy another three units in the basin to reach a target of 900,000 boed by 2027, up from 560,000 boed today. The state-owned oil and gas company has committed to invest a staggering $18 billion in capital expenditure for the basin.  

Petrobras chartered the Anna Nery from Malaysian company Yinson, which co-owns the vessel together with Japanese firm Sumitomo. Yinson controls a 75 percent stake with Sumitomo controlling the rest. Before its conversion, the vessel was originally designed to operate as a very large crude carrier. It is Yinson’s first asset in Brazil and also its largest project to date.

The FPSO is built to an all-electric design, which consists of maximizing the use of electricity to drive the equipment of the production unit, reducing carbon emissions when compared to other design concepts.

Petrobras has been making significant investments in FPSOs, which are a preferred development method in the region and intends to deploy 18 units across various basins over the next five years.