Christening Ceremony for Cidade de Itajaí FPSO (Singapore)

 Odebrecht Oil and Gas (OOG) in late July promoted a christening m ceremony in Singapore for the Cidade de Itajaí FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading), the company’s first floating oil production unit. The ceremony marked the start of OOG’s operations in the market of chartering and the operation of these units in Brazil.

The event included the presence of Members of Teekay Petrojarl and OOG – which together form the joint venture that will operate the unit – as well as representatives of Petrobras and the shipyard Jurong, responsible for building the FPSO.

The christening ceremony of a ship or platform is one of the most emblematic moments of its construction. On the occasion, the “godmother” of the Cidade de Itajaí FPSO, Liss Marian Myklebostad, wife of Arvid Skaar, Project Manager, broke the traditional bottle of champagne on the ship’s hull to bless the vessel and its crew.

The Cidade de Itajaí FPSO is set to depart this month, with estimated arrival to Brazil in October of this year. The unit will operate in the Southern portion of Santos Basin, located along São Paulo’s coast near the coast of Santa Catarina, in the Baúna and Piracabas fields.

For the operation, the joint venture structured a base in Itajaí which, in addition to other activities, will support the logistics of materials and people for boarding.

According to Rodrigo Lemos, FPSO Contract Director in Brazil, the idea is to build a closer relationship with the client. “Petrobras has been developing the concept of Integrated Operations Management, designed to boost operational safety and efficiency and reduce costs,” explained Lemos. According to him, 95% of the crew members have already been contracted.

The Cidade of Itajaí FPSO has the capacity to produce 80,000 barrels of oil per day and will operate in a water depth of 270 meters. The vessel is also prepared to work in a water depth of up to 1,000 meters.

Lemos stated that, for Petrobras, Cidade of Itajaí is a FPSO of opportunity: “If for some reason the production in the fields of Baúna and Piracaba is reduced, the unit can easily be transferred to another site,” he said. “Considering the latest information on the reserves in these fields and the nearby ones, it is estimated that the unit will remain in the region during the entire contract term, which is nine years, and renewable for six more.”

The Contract Director also emphasized the Members’ work on the project, from winning the bidding to the christening ceremony. “We will end the conversion of Cidade de Itajaí on a high note with a major emphasis on Health, Environment and Safety. I would like to thank all of those involved for their dedication, from the financing to the conversion and finally, the baptism.”

He further stated: “We need to maintain the focus and pace of the work to guarantee that the unit can leave the shipyard without any pending issues and ensure that it is approved to begin operating as quickly as possible after its arrival to Brazil.”

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Press Release, August 15, 2012