Saipem and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) have bagged a contract from Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) for the construction of the P-79 floating production storage and offloading vessel (P-79 FPSO) for the Búzios oil field in Brazilian waters.

Overall, the P-79 FPSO project is worth around $2.3 billion with Saipem’s share being nearly $1.3 billion.

The P-79 FPSO vessel will enable the initial separation of gas from the oil produced from the deep offshore reservoir of the Búzios oil field.

Its production capacity will be 180,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 7.2 million cubic meters of (mcbm) gas per day, while its storage capacity will be two million barrels of oil.

Saipem and DSME will execute the entire P-79 FPSO project. This involves the engineering, procurement, fabrication, and integration of the topsides of the FPSO units along with the installation of the mooring systems, and also the hookup, the vessel’s commissioning, and the start-up.

The Búzios oil field is located in the pre-salt Santos Basin, nearly 200km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. It is contained in water depths in the range of 1,600-2,100m.

Saipem is already associated with the deepwater oil field, where it is working under a subsea system installation contract.

Maurizio Coratella – Chief Operating Officer of Saipem E&C Onshore Division said: “This project represents a key step forward in our portfolio diversification strategy. It is also a further demonstration of trust of our clients in our consolidated capability to manage complex, technologically advanced projects in compliance with the highest safety and environmental standards.”

  Brazil, Búzios field, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Maurizio Coratella, Oil and gas industry news, Oil and gas news, P-79 FPSO, Petrobras, Rio de Janeiro, Saipem, Santos Basin