Topside construction underway for Petrobras’ next-gen FPSO

The construction of topside modules for a floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit set to work at a field in Brazil’s Santos Basin with the state-owned energy giant Petrobras has started at Seatrium’s shipyard in Angra, Brazil, formerly known as BrasFels.

Based on a social media post by Petrobras’ CEO Renata Baruzzi, the first sheet metal cutting ceremony for the topside modules of FPSO P-84 was held on June 10, 2025. Petrobras’ head described the event as an important milestone for the platform’s construction and assembly.

As stated by Baruzzi, 8,000 people are currently working on platforms P-80, P-83, and P-84 bound for the Brazilian giant at the shipyard, with construction of P-85 anticipated to start soon.

The FPSO P-84, which will be installed in the Atapu field, will have a capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day and gas processing of 10 million cubic meters. The field is operated by Petrobras (65.7%) in partnership with Shell (16.7%), TotalEnergies (15%), Petrogal Brasil (1.7%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) (0.9%).

Seatrium won an $8.15-billion contract for the FPSO in May 2024, followed by a steel-cutting ceremony held in November at the CIMC Raffles Offshore’s Yantai shipyard in China.

According to the Brazilian major, the unit holds several records. In addition to reportedly being the largest FPSO in Petrobras’ history, it will be its first unit to adopt the all-electric concept, projected to slash greenhouse gas emissions by up to 30%.

Earlier this month, Seatrium tapped ABB to design and construct the topside and hullside electrical equipment, electrical substation automation, and eHouses for the FPSOs P-84 and P-85.

Additionally, the Angra shipyard is working on the FPSO for Equinor’s Raia project, for which the steel striking ceremony was held last March. The vessel will be deployed at the Raia Manta and Raia Pintada fields, located in the giant pre-salt region at the southern part of the Campos Basin.

Equinor’s field partners are Repsol Sinopec Brazil (35%) and Petrobras (30%).

According to MODEC, which is in charge of the engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI), FPSO delivery is expected in 2027, after which the unit will be permanently moored at a water depth of approximately 2,900 meters at a location situated approximately 200 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.