Seventh FPSO prepares to join Petrobras’ Santos Basin field

June 30, 2025, by Dragana Nikše

A sailaway ceremony has been held to mark the departure of a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit from Seatrium’s yard in Singapore to a field offshore Brazil operated by the country’s state-owned energy major Petrobras.

FPSO P-78 sailaway ceremony; Source: Magda Chambriard via LinkedIn

Based on a social media post by Petrobras’ Chief Operating Officer (CEO) Magda Chambriard, the unit set sail for the Búzios field on June 30, 2025. With a capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), the FPSO P-78 will already be staffed, which the CEO says saves a month of pre-operation.

While disclosing that directors Renata Baruzzi and Sylvia dos Anjos took part in the ceremony, along with Petrobras’ engineering team, Chambriard also stated that the topsides for the unit were made in Brazil.

In February, the Brazilian giant brought online the sixth FPSO at Búzios, called Almirante Tamandaré. The remaining units working in the field are P-74, P-75, P-76, P-77, and Almirante Barroso.

Once the P-78 arrives at the field and becomes the field’s seventh unit, another four are set to join it for a total of 11 platforms under the current development concept.

Located in the Santos Basin, some 180 kilometers offshore from Rio de Janeiro, the Búzios field was discovered in 2010 and began operating in 2018. Petrobras is the operator (88.98% interest) on behalf of the Búzios Shared Reservoir Consortium, comprising CNOOC (7.34%) and CNPC (3.67%), with Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) as the manager.

Búzios is the second field in terms of production volume and reserves in Brazil, behind the Tupi field. The field reached a record of 800 thousand barrels of oil produced daily in February.

Brazil’s field hits record oil production after welcoming sixth FPSO

Exploration & Production

Earlier this month, the Brazilian firm announced that the topside construction had started for another FPSO, P-84. The 225,000-boepd unit will be installed in the Atapu field.