Hanwha Ocean-built FPSO’s oil offloading opens revenue flows for Petrobras

June 11, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Brazilian state-owned energy heavyweight Petrobras has initiated a revenue stream with the first oil offloading from its eighth floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, which is working at a field in the Santos Basin off the coast of Brazil.

Following its departure from Hanwha Ocean’s South Korean shipyard in Geoje in November 2025, the FPSO P-79 reached the pre-salt Santos Basin in February 2026, when it was towed to its location at Petrobras’ Búzios field, where it produced first oil on May 1 and completed its first offloading on May 30, 2026.

The completion of the FPSO’s first oil offloading is described by Hanwha Ocean as a milestone that demonstrates the firm’s successful construction of a high-quality FPSO, for which the company carried out the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of the hull and topside segments.

The Asian player emphasizes that the oil offloading achievement also marks the beginning of revenue generation for Petrobras. The P-79 is designed to produce approximately 180,000 barrels of oil per day and has a gas compression capacity of 7.2 million cubic meters per day.

This FPSO is expected to contribute to increasing the total production capacity of the Búzios field, which is deemed to be one of the world’s largest deepwater oil fields, to around 1.33 million barrels per day.

The FPSO P-79 is the eighth of the 12 units planned for installation at the Brazilian field, joining the seven vessels already in operation, including: P-74, P-75, P-76, P-77, Almirante Barroso, Almirante Tamandaré, and P-78.

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The Búzios field is operated by a consortium consisting of Petrobras (operator), its Chinese partners, CNOOC and CNODC, and PPSA, the company responsible for managing production sharing contracts (PSCs).