Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has let a contract to TechnipFMC PLC to deliver integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (iEPCI) services for implementation of the operator’s high-pressure separation (HISEP) technologies entirely subsea for the third phase of the Mero project in the ultra-deep Libra block offshore Brazil in the Santos basin, 180 km from Rio de Janeiro.
As part of the early January 2024 contract for the Mero 3 HISEP project, TechnipFMC will provide design, engineering, manufacturing, and installation of subsea equipment—including manifolds, flexible and rigid pipes, umbilicals, and power distribution—as well as life of field services, for the Mero 3 HISEP project, which uses subsea processing to capture CO2-rich dense gases for subsequent injection into the reservoir, the service provider said.
Valued at more than $1 billion, TechnipFMC said the iEPCI contract award follows its ongoing partnership with Petrobras to advance qualification of certain core technologies required for delivering the HISEP process entirely subsea, several of which are proprietary and will be used in other subsea applications such as gas separation systems and dense gas pumps to enable injection of CO2-rich dense gas.
Based on Petrobras’s patented process, the HISEP technologies specifically will allow capturing CO2-rich dense gases directly from the well stream, moving part of the separation process from the FPSO topside platform to the sea floor, according to the service provider.
Alongside reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity, the HISEP technologies will enable increased production capacity by debottlenecking the topside gas processing plant, TechnipFMC said.
The presalt Mero 3 project will be the first project ever to use Petrobras’s HISEP process subsea following the Libra consortium’s previous pilot testing of HISEP technologies at the site (OGJ Online, Aug. 17, 2020).
With Mero 2, Mero field is expected to reach production capacity of 410,000 b/d. Two additional development phases—Mero 3 and Mero 4—are currently under construction. Each is expected to produce 180,000 b/d with start-up envisioned by 2025 (OGJ Online, Jan. 2, 2024).
The unitized Mero field is operated by Petrobras (38.6%) on behalf of partners TotalEnergies EP Brasil Ltd. (19.3%), Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltd, (19.3%), CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda. (9.65%), CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda. (9.65%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (3.5%).