Markets Awaits Outcome of the Albacora FPSO Tender on July 27

July 8 (PN) After several postponements, Petrobras is expected to stick to the deadline for opening bid envelopes for the FPSO that will operate in the Albacora field revitalization project in the Campos Basin. The tender process, originally launched in March 2025, has faced several delays along the way. The current deadline for submitting proposals is July 27—a date expected to hold.

This marks Petrobras’s second attempt to contract the new Albacora FPSO. The initial tender—structured as a chartering arrangement—received bids from BW Offshore and Ocyan but failed to result in a successful price agreement. For the current tender, the chosen model is BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer), under which the winning bidder will operate the vessel for a specified period.

Eleven companies have been pre-qualified for this new attempt to tender the platform: Modec, Shapoorji Pallonji, Yinson, CNOOC Energy Technology, Saipem, BW Offshore, MISC, SBM Offshore, Altera Infrastructure, COOEC, and Ocyan.

The Albacora revitalization project entails, in its first phase, the development of the Forno reservoir—located in the pre-salt layer—followed by a stage focused on the post-salt reservoirs. The new FPSO is not expected to enter operation until after 2031. Petrobras holds a 100% stake in the Albacora field, while the Forno reservoir is shared with the Brava North Block within the Manjuba accumulation. Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) is responsible for managing the Brava North Production Sharing Contract.

The FPSO will have the capacity to produce up to 120,000 barrels of oil per day and is designed to operate for at least 20 years. The unit will be installed offshore in a water depth of 670 meters. The FPSO will receive production from subsea wells and feature processing systems to treat the fluids, stabilize them, and separate produced water from natural gas. After processing, the liquids will be measured, stored in the vessel’s cargo tanks, and transferred to shuttle tankers.

Albacora is located approximately 110 km east of Cabo de São Tomé, off the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro state. Currently, production from the field takes place via the P-25 platform (a semi-submersible, or SS, type) and the P-31 platform (an FPSO type). The oil export system for the P-25 consists of a pipeline connecting the unit to the P-31.