SBM Offshore has emerged as the front runner to supply the Mero-2 floating production, storage and offloading unit for the Petrobras-operated Mero development in Brazil's Santos basin, fending off competition from arch-rival Modec, write Gareth Chetwynd and Xu Yihe.
The two companies submitted their bids to Petrobras in mid-February, and Petrobras opened commercial envelopes last week after technical analysis was concluded, industry sources said.
