Petrobras launches tender for hundreds of kilometres of umbilicals offshore Brazil
Brazilian oil giant seeking subsea equipment for deep-water projects in the Campos and Santos basins
Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras has launched a tender to contract a fresh batch of subsea umbilicals to attend its numerous deep-water developments in the Campos and Santos basins.
Industry sources told Upstream that Petrobras invited contractors including TechnipFMC, Aker Solutions, MFX, Prysmian and Oceaneering to submit commercial bids on 19 February for hundreds of kilometres of electro-hydraulic umbilicals and associated equipment.
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Petrobras is looking to acquire as many as 350.6 kilometres of standardised umbilicals, said sources, including thermoplastic umbilicals (TPU) and steel tube umbilicals (STU), although the breakdown per type of equipment was not immediately clear.
The state-controlled oil giant is seeking TPUs capable of withstanding pressures between 5000 and 7500 pounds per square inch for a multitude of projects in water depths ranging from 1000 to 2500 metres.
As for the STUs, Petrobras is shopping for slightly more advanced equipment that needs to be resistant to contaminants such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide, and able to resist pressures of up to 10,000 psi.
One source suggested the STUs are probably meant to serve the P-78, P-79 and Almirante Tamandare floating production, storage and offloading vessels to be installed in the Buzios pre-salt field in 2024 and 2025.
Petrobras is offering a five-year contract for the manufacture and supply of the umbilicals and has committed to acquire at least 29% of the volume ordered.
Delivery of the first batch of TPUs is scheduled for 180 days after signing of the contract, while the more complex STUs are only meant for delivery after 300 days, according to bidding documents seen by Upstream.
The STUs will feature a minimum local content of 40%, however there are no local content requirements for the TPUs.
The contract workscope also includes the supply of pipe reels for storage, logistics and transportation services, as well as technical assistance, supervision and assembly.
The new tender takes place as Petrobras in recent months received proposals for the contracting of 545.4 kilometres of TPUs and 27 kilometres of STUs.
Oceaneering and MFX are in a prime spot to split the TPU prize with combined bids worth close to $180 million, while Prysmian emerged as the front runner for the STUs for the Buzios-5 project by submitting a $10 million offer.
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