PETROBRAS SIGNS CONTRACT TO REPLACE THE P-71 GENERATORS

Oct 23, 2019

After nearly five months of negotiations, Petrobras signs contract to replace lost shipwrecked equipment

Siemens and Petrobras signed a contract to supply four generators for the P-71, replacing those lost in the shipwreck in mid-May. According to sources, the removal of the new equipment will be made until January by the winner of the bid for the construction of the platform modules or by the oil company itself.

According to PetróleoToday, the deal was closed for less than U$ 50 million, following negotiations conducted by Petronect, Petrobras’ electronic shopping portal. The turbines are ready in Rotterdam and are identical to those lost in the incident.

The new generators were built to be installed on the P-72 and P-73 FPSOs, but ended up with no destination after Petrobras canceled construction contracts for the production units. The original contract was signed in 2011, and the generators were ready in 2015, two years before the platform works were canceled.

During the negotiation with Siemens, visits and technical inspections were made to assess the condition of the equipment, which weighs about 120 t and has a generating capacity of 25 MW each. The need for minor repairs to the Waste Heat Recovery Units (WHRU) – have already started.

Petrobras is also negotiating the contracting of the module construction service by another bid, to which the shipyards Cosco, Brasfels, EBR, Aible and BJC, among others, were invited. Proposals were received on October 4th.

Petrobras has established 11 months to execute the contract, which includes the purchase of equipment, construction / assembly and delivery of the module in Brazil, at Jurong Shipyard, in Aracruz (ES), responsible for the integration of P-71. The construction of the hull is done at Raffles Shipyard in China.

Five months after the incident, Petrobras has not confirmed the date of the first P-71 oil and the field in which it will produce, but sources linked to the project anticipate that the unit will be installed in Lula Oeste.

The original plan provided for its installation in the Iara area, where the Sururu, Berbigão and Oeste do Atapu fields are located, but after delays in the construction, the project was removed from Petrobras’ business plan (2019-2023). The last official forecast of the oil company was that the work of integrating the modules to the topside would occur in the first half of 2020.

Capable of producing 150,000 bopd, the P-71 is part of a package of eight replicating FPSOs ordered in 2010 from Brazilian shipyards for the Santos basin (P-66, P-67, P-68, P-60, P -70, P-71, P-72 and P-73). Faced with delays and financial difficulties  by domestic companies, Petrobras transferred part of the works to Asian shipyards and canceled the last two platforms.

Source: Brasil Energia Magazine