‘Major’ deal for MODEC’s Brazil-bound FPSO lands on MAN’s order book

MAN Energy Solutions Switzerland, a subsidiary of Germany’s engine manufacturer MAN Energy Solutions, has secured its largest single order ever received, thanks to an assignment with Offshore Frontier Solutions, a MODEC Group company. This will enable the firm to equip a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, destined to work off the coast of Brazil, with 11 RB-type compressor trains.

These compressor trains will be installed on the FPSO Raia, which will be deployed at the Raia project in the Campos Basin, approximately 200 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Equinor, in partnership with Repsol Sinopec Brasil and Petrobras, will operate the FPSO, with a production capacity of 126,000 barrels of crude oil per day.

The first steel for the vessel was cut in Brazil at Seatrium’s BrasFELS Shipyard at the start of March 2024. This FPSO will produce and export up to 16 million cubic meters of gas per day. The reservoir, located at a depth of around 2,900 meters, is estimated to contain more than one billion barrels of oil equivalent. The first production is anticipated in 2028.

MAN Energy Solutions’ scope of work for the FPSO’s gas lift, injection, and export application entails 11 electrically-driven centrifugal-compression trains, including two trains with type RB 28-6+3 compressors as overhead units, two trains with type RB 45-4+5 compressors as low-pressure units, five trains with type RB 28-5 compressors as medium- and high-pressure units, and two trains with type RB 28-8 compressors as gas injection units.

Basil Zweifel, Head of Sales & Project Management, Up- & Midstream at MAN Energy Solutions, commented: “We are proud to support the further development of Brazil’s energy industry with this important, large-scale project. With MODEC, we share a solid history of successful FPSO projects around the globe, and we look forward to continuing this excellent collaboration.

“Meeting the stringent CO₂ reduction goals for this project in the challenging deep-water environmental conditions requires a high degree of flexibility and efficiency. Our comprehensive, technical expertise and the unrivaled reliability of our compressor systems play a decisive role in reaching these targets.”

Once operational, MAN’s compression systems are expected to help maintain field pressure, maximizing the quantity and efficiency of gas production. The company explains that the overhead and gas injection compressor units will be driven by fixed-speed electrical motors, with the high- and low-pressure units equipped with variable frequency drives.

In addition, the two medium-pressure compressor units will feature a special switch control system. MAN highlights that this enables operators to choose between fixed speed and VFD operation based on their requirements. The delivery of the compressor trains is slated for 4Q 2024 and 1Q 2025.

Equinor handed out the declarations of commerciality and plans of development for two natural gas fields – Raia Manta and Raia Pintada – in the BM-C-33 concession to Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP) in September 2023. This is expected to be Brazil’s first project to treat gas offshore and be connected to the national grid without further onshore processing.

MAN’s compressor systems have been in high demand lately. In August 2023, the company was picked by Aker Solutions and Aibel to provide seven compressor units for Aker BP’s three new offshore oil and gas production platforms in the Norwegian North Sea.

A few months earlier, the firm was also hired by Yinson to supply a total of 11 compressor trains for an Angola-bound FPSO vessel.