Petrobras has let a contract to Aker Solutions covering the subsea production system and related services for the first full production phase of giant, deepwater Mero oil field offshore Brazil (OGJ Online, Dec. 18, 2017).
The state-owned company said the group it leads concluded on Oct. 2 an extended well test, which began last November, of the presalt Santos basin field with the Pioneiro de Libra floating production, storage, and offloading vessel. The unit will be used for early production systems at other Mero wells.
During the test, the FPSO reinjected produced gas, which has a high concentration of carbon dioxide. The test also involved what Petrobras called the first prelaunch of flexible lines with floats in ultradeep water.
The field has water depths of 1,700-2,400 m and wells as deep as 6,000 m.
For the first full development phase, Aker Solutions will supply 12 vertical subsea trees, four subsea distribution units, three topside master control stations for the Mero 1 Guanabara FPSO, and spare parts. It also will provide installation and commissioning-support services.
The Guanabara is to come on stream in 2021 with capacity to process 180,000 b/d of oil and 12 million cu m/day of natural gas. It’s the first of four production systems of equivalent capacity planned for the field.
Mero interests are Petrobras, 40%; Shell and Total, 20% each; and China National Petroleum Corp. and CNOOC Ltd., 10% each. State-owned Pre-Sal Petroleo is contract manager.