SBM Offshore wraps up $1.62 billion financing with 12 banks for Brazil-bound FPSO

Dutch FPSO operator SBM Offshore has completed the project financing of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which is destined to work for Petrobras at the Mero field in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil, for a total of nearly $1.62 billion, secured by a consortium of 12 international banks. 

SBM Offshore revealed on Tuesday, 20 June 2023, that it had signed the project financing of FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão for a total of $1.615 billion with a consortium of 12 international banks and insurance cover from three international Export Credit Agencies (ECA).

According to the company, the financing is composed of four separate facilities with around 6.6 per cent weighted average cost of debt and a 14-year post-completion maturity for both the ECA-covered facilities and the uncovered facility.

With the vessel’s design incorporating SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward newbuild, multi-purpose hull, the FPSO will have a processing capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil and 12 million m³ of gas per day. It will also have an estimated greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity within the range of 8-12 kg CO2e/boe for the company’s new build FPSOs, benefiting from proprietary emission reduction technologies.

The FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão will be the fourth definitive system to be installed in the Mero field. Based on the firm’s statement, the topsides fabrication and Fast4Ward MPF hull for this FPSO are in progress with the first oil slated in 2025.

This FPSO is owned and operated by special purpose companies owned by affiliated companies of SBM Offshore (55 per cent) and its partners, Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK), which hold 25 and 20 per cent interest, respectively.

The FPSO will be deployed at the Mero unitized field located in the Santos Basin approximately 160 kilometres offshore Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, under a 22.5-year lease and operation contract with Petrobras. 

The field is operated by Petrobras (38.6 per cent), in partnership with Shell Brasil (19.3 per cent), TotalEnergies (19.3 per cent), CNPC (9.65 per cent), CNOOC (9.65 per cent) and Pré-sal Petróleo S.A. – PPSA (3.5 per cent), representing the government in the non-contracted area.