Brazilian state-owned oil firm Petrobras has approved the hibernation of the Merluza platform located in the shallow-water Santos Basin offshore Brazil.
Petrobras said last Friday that the Merluza platform, designated PMLZ-1, had already stopped production since March 2020.
The stoppage in production was due to the abrupt reduction in the demand for natural gas, and the company added that the hibernation would allow the reduction of operating expenses and the transfer of professionals to other Petrobras units.
“ Hibernation will not impact the Merluza divestment process and the supply of natural gas to the Baixada Santista market ”, the Brazilian firm stated.
This decision is in line with the portfolio optimization strategy and the improvement of the company’s capital allocation, aiming at maximizing value for its shareholders.
Petrobras started the opportunity disclosure stage for the sale of all its equity interest in Merluza and Lagosta fields in late February. Petrobras has a 100 per cent stake in both fields.
Operating since 1993, the Merluza fixed platform is the oldest in operation in the Santos Basin and was installed for the production of natural gas and condensate from the field.
Since April 2009, the unit has also been responsible for the production of natural gas and condensate from the Lagosta field. The average production of the fields, in 2019, was 3.6 thousand boepd.
The cluster is currently producing from three wells and the PMLZ-1 platform, from which gas and condensate is exported through a pipeline of 16” and 215 kilometres to Cubatão