A New Era in Offshore Operations: Bacalhau FPSO Arrives in Santos Basin

A 370-meter-long floating storage, production, and offloading (FPSO) unit constructed by Japanese giant MODEC has arrived at its final destination in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil where it will operate at Equinor’s field.

The Bacalhau FPSO arrived at its destination in the Santos Basin on Friday, February 21, following a year and a half of integration and commissioning in Singapore and a journey of around two months to Brazilian waters.

The project teams are now beginning the process of anchoring, carried out with the assistance of four tugboats, after which the installation scope will resume, including the recovery of the umbilicals and risers already installed on the seabed to connect to the FPSO and continue the vessel’s commissioning scope.

During the commissioning campaign, a support, maintenance, and safety vessel will be connected to the FPSO.

“With the arrival of the FPSO Bacalhau, we will focus on the next activities of the project. We will have anchoring, connection of the umbilicals and risers to the FPSO, pre-commissioning and commissioning of the entire system, including the wells already drilled. Our teams are focused on ensuring a safe start of operations,” said Trond Bokn, Senior Vice President of Project Development at Equinor.

The FPSO, described as the largest vessel of its kind to be delivered to Brazil with its 370 meters in length and 64 meters in width, has the capacity to produce 220,000 barrels per day and uses a new hull design developed by MODEC.

The naming ceremony for the Bacalhau FPSO took place on October 21, 2024, at Seatrium’s Tuas Boulevard Yard. The Singaporean firm was in charge of undertaking integration work on the FPSO after Aibel wrapped up the work on topside modules.

The vessel boasts the title of the world’s first FPSO with DNV’s Abate notation, received in July 2024.

It is estimated that during the entire life cycle of the Bacalhau project, it will generate around 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. When added to Raia, another project operated by Equinor in the Campos Basin, the number of direct and indirect jobs reaches 100,000.

Bacalhau is operated by Equinor (40%) in partnership with ExxonMobil (40%), Petrogal Brasil – a joint venture of Galp and Sinopec (20%), and the government company Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (PPSA), which is the manager of the sharing contract.

The field is located 185 kilometers off the coast of the municipality of Ilhabela, in the state of São Paulo, in a water depth above 2,000 meters.

The discovery was made by Petrobras in 2012, while Equinor has been the operator since 2016. Bacalhau will be the first greenfield development in the pre-salt by an international operator.

First oil is expected in 2025, with Phase 1 reserves exceeding 1 billion barrels and having a production capacity of 220,000 boe/d.

“Bacalhau is a very important project in Equinor’s portfolio. With over 1 billion estimated recoverable reserves, seeing the FPSO arrive at the Field is a very relevant milestone. This project is proof of what we can achieve when we combine our expertise and work with our partners and suppliers towards a common goal,” said Veronica Coelho, President of Equinor in Brazil.