Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda. (Shell Brasil), a subsidiary of Shell, has announced the start of production of the Alexandre de Gusmão platform vessel (FPSO – floating production, storage and offloading unit) in the Mero field, in the Santos Basin, off the coast of Brazil.
As part of the Mero-4 project, the FPSO will be connected to 12 wells, with an operational capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil production and 12 million cubic meters of gas compression per day (Shell's 19.3% stake). The FPSO is located 180 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, in a water depth of approximately 2,000 meters.
'Mero-4 is the latest example of how we are working with our partners to unlock value from world-class reservoirs, sustaining the production of material liquids and meeting the world’s current energy needs,' said Peter Costello, President Upstream at Shell. 'Our portfolio in Brazil features long-life assets with high production rates, resulting in some of our most competitive barrels in both operating cost and carbon footprint.'
The unitized Mero field is operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell Brasil (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNPC (9.65%), CNOOC (9.65%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (PPSA) (3.5%) representing the Government in the non-contracted area.
Background
- The Final Investment Decision on Mero-4 was announced in August 2021.
- The Mero field is part of the Libra Production Sharing Contract (PSC), signed in December 2013.
- FPSO Guanabara (Mero-1), FPSO Sepetiba (Mero-2) and FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias (Mero-3) are scheduled to come into operation in 2022, 2023 and 2024, respectively. In total, the four FPSOs and one Early Production System (EPS) have a total installed production capacity of 770,000 barrels of oil per day.
- Shell is the second largest oil and gas producer in Brazil, behind only Petrobras.
- Mero-4 contributes to Shell’s Capital Market Day 2025 commitment to deliver upstream and integrated gas projects that will come on stream between 2025 and 2030 with a total peak production of more than 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d).
- The above mentioned operating capacity is a total gross value of 100%.
Source: Shell Brasil
