By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Dec. 8 -- Repsol YPF SA and Galp Energia have joined Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) and BG Group to develop front-end engineering and design for the construction of an onboard natural gas liquefaction unit that will operate 300 km off Brazil. The planned site is on Blocks BM-S-9 and BM-S-11 in Santos basin's presalt pole.
The unit is one of the transportation technologies being considered to flow gas produced in the presalt layers, according to Petrobras.
Stakes in the expanded joint venture are now Petrobras holding 51.1%, while BG, Repsol YPF, and Galp each hold 16.3% interests. The JV partners also are partners in Blocks BM-S-9 (Petrobras, BG, and Repsol YPF) and BM-S-11 (Petrobras, BG, and Galp).
The tender for preparation of the FEED for the unit was started last August (OGJ Online, Nov. 18, 2009). Planned installation of the unit will be near the floating oil and gas production units and receive, process, and liquefy as much as 14 million cu m/day of associated gas.
Petrobras also said the unit will store and transfer processed products (LNG, propane, and butane) to vessels, which, in turn, will then transport them to market. The LNG, the company said, will be delivered to regasification terminals, which will vaporize it and inject it into the gas pipeline network.
Petrobras operates LNG regasification terminals in Brazil: in Pecem, state of Ceara, and in the Guanabara Bay, state of Rio de Janeiro (OGJ, July 27, 2009, p. 33).
Petrobras said the unit will allow Santos basin's presalt pole gas reserves to be monetized, “ensuring flexibility to supply the internal market and the possibility of exporting the product in the spot market” when demand in the Brazilian thermoelectric segment is low.