The FPSO Guanabara (Mero 1) completed one year of operation on April 30th. This FPSO is the first of a series of four definitive platforms scheduled for the unitized Mero field, in the Libra block (Strategic Plan 2023-2027).
In that first year, several milestones were achieved: the TOP of the unit in January/2023, the production record at the FPSO Guanabara, with a monthly average of 179 thousand barrels of oil per day (bpd) in February/2023, and the start of the injection of water in March/2023.
According to the Director of Exploration and Production, Joelson Mendes, reaching a record just ten months after the unit’s first oil and with four producing wells, “reinforces the enormous potential of the Mero field and is the result of the capacity and commitment of our body technician and our partners to overcome challenges”.
Guanabara: the first definitive system to operate in Mero, the third largest field in Brazil
In January 2022, the platform ship Guanabara arrived at the unitized Mero field, located in the Libra block, in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin. The platform, of the FPSO type (Floating Production Storage and Offloading – floating unit that produces, stores and transfers oil), is the first definitive system to operate in Mero, the third largest field in oil volume (behind only Búzios and Tupi, also located in the Santos Basin pre-salt) in the country. On April 30, 2022, the FPSO started operating.
Mero unitized field operations are conducted by the Consortium operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda (19.3%), TotalEnergies EP Brasil Ltda (19.3%), CNODC Brasil Petróleo and Gás Ltda (9.65%), CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda (9.65%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A (PPSA) (3.5%), as representative of the Union in the non-contracted area.
Reduction of CO2 emissions
The FPSO Guanabara benefits from one of the most robust CO2 Capture, Use and Geological Storage programs (the so-called CCUS), as the unitized Mero field has a 45% content of this gas, enabling the reduction of CO2 emissions. In addition, the consortium is developing, for application in the field, the unprecedented underwater separation technology called HISEP® (High Pressure Separation). With it, it will be possible to separate, still on the seabed, the gas produced rich in CO2, for reinjection into the reservoir.
FPSO Guanabara in numbers:
Production capacity: up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day
Processing capacity: 12 million m3 of gas
Producing wells: 4
Gas injection wells: 3
Water injection wells: 1
Distance from the coast: more than 150 km
Water depth: up to 1,930 meters
Height: 172 meters
Length: 332 meters
Power generation capacity: 100 megawatts (enough to supply a city of 330,000 inhabitants)
Leave a Reply