(PetroNoticias) Petrobras hopes to make progress soon with preparations for the start of production of the FPSO P-71 in the Itapu field, in the pre-salt of the Santos Basin. The state-owned company recently asked the Brazilian Institute for the Environment (Ibama) for a license to operate the platform vessel – which should start operating in the area in 2023.
As a reminder, the P-71 would initially be located in the Tupi field, also in the Santos Basin pre-salt. Itapu, in turn, would receive its own platform, which would still be contracted. However, in October last year, Petrobras announced the decision to cancel the tender for contracting a platform for Itapu and relocated the P-71 to the field.
The state-owned company reached a US$ 353 million agreement with its partners in Tupi (Shell and Petrogal) to buy the shares of these oil companies in the FPSO. It was also agreed to prepare a new Development Plan for the Tupi field, where the FPSO would originally be used.
After the auction of the surplus from the transfer of rights, held in November 2019, the production rights in the Itapu field became fully held by Petrobrás. According to the state-owned company, the decision to install the P-71 in Itapu will make it possible to bring forward the first oil in the field in about a year. Currently, the P-71 is at the Jurong Shipyard, in Espírito Santo, in the final stages of construction. The unit will have a production capacity of 150,000 barrels of oil per day.
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