Saipem has been confirmed as the winner for a major subsea engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for Petrobras' Buzios-7 project offshore Brazil.
The Italian contractor will supply a rigid riser-pipe based subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) system for the giant pre-salt field, which lies about 200 kilometres offshore in water depths of around 2000 metres.
Upstream reported on 23 August that Saipem was the lowest bidder for the contract, edging out McDermott International and Subsea 7 in second and third place respectively.
Saipem’s workscope includes the EPCI of the steel lazy wave risers (SLWR) and associated flowlines interconnecting 15 subsea wells to the Buzios-7 floating production, storage and offloading vessel, together with the related service lines and control umbilicals.
The project’s 15 wells comprise six oil producers, six water-alternating-gas injection wells, one gas injection well and two “convertible” wells.
SBM Offshore’s Almirante Tamandare FPSO will be deployed on Buzios-7, with production start-up being targeted in 2024
Once operational, the Almirante Tamandare will be the largest FPSO operating in Brazilian waters with topsides modules able to process 225,000 barrels per day of oil and 12 million cubic metres per day of natural gas.
Saipem will also be responsible for the provision and installation of the floater's anchors and for the hook-up of the FPSO on location.
The company said it will use its state-of-the-art field development vessel, FDS, to install the SLWRs.
“This project is a further important evidence of a new investment cycle and of Saipem's competitiveness in projects with a high technological content,” said Saipem chief executive Francesco Caio.
“The contract also confirms the trust placed in Saipem by major clients such as Petrobras for the realisation of projects central to their strategies, as well as it confirms the solid position of the company in geographic areas with significant development prospects.”
In July 2020, Saipem landed a similar SURF contract for the Petrobras’ Buzios-5 project.
The Buzios full field development calls for the installation of up to 12 large FPSOs in the area.
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