Petrobras' New FPSO at Mero Field Offshore Brazil Begins Production

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Petrobras' (NYSE:PBR) (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) Alexandre de Gusmao FPSO is the fourth floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) platform in the Mero oil field, which now has a production capacity of 770,000 barrels per day (BBL/d).

The Alexandre de Gusmao FPSO has started production at the Mero field, in the Libra offshore block, in Brazil. This is the fourth platform to come online as part of this offshore asset, located in the Santos Basin, about 180 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro's coast.

The new platform is connected to 12 wells and can produce 180,000 BBL/d and 12 million cubic meters of gas per day through compression and reinjection.

The FPSO also is equipped with High Pressure Separator (HISEP) technology, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by reinjecting natural gas into the reservoir.

Besides Alexandre de Gusmao, the Mero field already has the operational platforms of Guanabara, Sepetiba and Marechal Duque de Caxias, which came online in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively. Together, the four platforms and an early production system (EPS) have a combined output capacity of 770,000 BBL/d.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Oil & Gas Production Plant Database can click here to read profiles for the Alexandre de Gusmao, Guanabara, Sepetiba and Marechal Duque de Caxias FPSOs.

Additionally, a fifth platform is currently under study and could be deployed to bring the field's production capacity close to the 1 million-BBL/d mark.

The Mero field is owned by a consortium composed of Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell Brasil (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNPC (9.65%), CNOOC (9.65%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A (PPSA) (3.5%).

The oil field has recoverable reserves of 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, making it one of Brazil's most significant energy assets.

"Mero-4 is the latest example of how we are working with our partners to unlock value from world-class reservoirs, sustaining material liquids production and providing for the world's current energy needs," said Peter Costello, Shell's Upstream President.

Besides the Libra block, where the company estimates between 8 billion to 12 billion barrels in reserves, Shell also has stakes in five discoveries at Lula, Iracema, Sapinhoa Lapa and Iara in the Santos Basin; it also operates 10 blocks in the exploratory phase in the Brazilian Equatorial Margin.

Shell is Brazil's second-largest oil producer after Petrobras.

Meanwhile, TotalEnergies, another major stakeholder at Mero, has a portfolio of 11 licenses in Brazil, four of which it operates. Last year, the company had an average production in Brazil of 153,000 BBL/d.

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