FPSO Pioneiro de Libra Arrives in Brazilian Waters

With offshore operation, the vessel will be able to produce oil which will later be transported to oil ships

The first vessel to produce oil in Libra Field, considered one of the world’s largest pre-salt reserves, has just reached Brazil. The FPSO Pioneiro de Libra – owned by the joint venture 50/50, formed by Odebrecht Oil & Gas and Teekey Offshore – had left Singapore on March 29, where it was built.

The rig arrived today in Brazilian territorial waters, 10 days ahead of schedule. The rigorous planning and weather conditions ensured an easy journey, even along the more sensitive stretches, with the vessel traveling at an average speed approximately 25% higher than expected. The vessel stopped for 24 hours on the Mauritius Islands to change crews and load materials and equipment.

Since its baptism, which occurred in December, the FPSO has undergone commissioning and open sea tests. Workers completed over 1,000 activities before the trip, checking the inclination and propulsion system.

For a 12-month period, the vessel will conduct Long Duration Tests in Libra Field for the consortium made up of the companies Petrobras (Operator, with 40%), Total (20%), Shell (20%), CNPC (10%), and CNOOC (10%).

Libra Field extends more than 1,500 square kilometers in Santos Basin, with reserves estimated between 8 and 12 billion barrels of recoverable oil, according to the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

50,000 Barrels per Day

Built at the Jurong Shipyard in Singapore, the FPSO received an investment of approximately US$ 1 billion. The unit will be able to operate at water depths of up to 2,400 meters. It will have the capacity to produce 50,000 barrels of oil and compress 4 million cubic meters of gas per day.

“We are immensely proud to record the arrival of the vessel in Brazilian territorial waters,” explained Jorge Mitidieri, Senior Officer of Integrated Services at Odebrecht Oil & Gas. “It is a milestone for oil production in Brazil. For us, it demonstrates the competency and delivery capacity, even in an adverse scenario, and reinforces the partnership with Teekay, since it is the second project we have developed together,” said Mitidieri

For more than two years, approximately 4,000 professionals were involved with the project, including the activities at the shipyard, with over 19 million man/hours worked without recording any work-related accident with lost time.

Did you know?

The FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading Unit) is a type of ship used by the oil industry to produce and store oil and/or natural gas and transport the production using tanker ships (oil rigs). Such vessels are used in offshore production sites where there is no possibility for connection through oil or gas pipelines.