Petrobras postpones key FPSO tender under revamped design scope
Brazilian operator looking to optimise Sergipe-Alagoas floaters to reduce costs
Brazilian state-controlled company Petrobras has pushed back the date for submission of bids in a tender to contract two floating production, storage and offloading vessels for the deepwater portion of the Sergipe-Alagoas basin in light of updates on the units’ general technical description.
The Brazilian oil giant will order the SEAP-2 FPSO under BOT and the SEAP-1 FPSO in a potential purchase and sales agreement. The contracting strategy considers the two units to be ultimately owned by Petrobras.
A few weeks ago, Petrobras issued a brief communique to contractors notifying the bid deadline has been delayed by an additional 45 days, from 15 August to 30 September, said a well-informed source.
“The bidding committee hereby informs all interested parties that the date scheduled for the proposal opening has been postponed,” said Petrobras.
According to the document, the main reason for the postponement is that Petrobras incorporated multiple changes to the floaters’ design specifications, thus allowing more time for contractors to prepare their commercial offers.
The SEAP-2 FPSO will be able to process 120,000 barrels per day of oil and 12 million cubic metres per day of natural gas, while the SEAP-1 FPSO will be slightly smaller at 120,000 bpd and 10 MMcmd.
Among the changes, Petrobras added in the general technical description that the floaters will feature a total de-sulphated sea water injection capacity of 120,000 bpd, down from 200,000 bpd in the original spreadsheet.
Petrobras also required the SEAP FPSOs design accommodation to be sized for a minimum of 180 people on board and proposed many other optimisations, such as a simplified flow diagram of the oil processing scheme, in an effort to reduce final costs.
First oil from the SEAP-2 FPSO is scheduled for 2030, to be followed by the SEAP-1 FPSO in 2031. Petrobras is giving floater specialists an operating window of seven and a half years for each unit under the BOT contracting strategy.
By giving a longer period of time for operation in the BOT bidding competition, Petrobras will take out much of the financing burden for construction of the units while, simultaneously, reward contractors with a more profitable and attractive operating timeline.
Under BOT, the winning bidder will supply and operate the FPSO under a pre-determined number of years, after which control will be transferred to Petrobras.
The SEAP-2 FPSO will produce from blocks BM-SEAL-4, BM-SEAL-4A and BM-SEAL-11, which harbour the Budiao, Budiao Noroeste and Budiao Sudeste fields.
As for the SEAP-1 FPSO, the unit will be deployed in blocks BM-SEAL-10 and BM-SEAL-11 to produce from the Agulhinha, Agulhinha Oeste, Cavala and Palombeta fields.