Bacalhau

Bacalhau Oil Field Profile

Location and Geology

• The Bacalhau oil field is located in the pre-salt region of the Santos Basin, approximately 185 km off the coast of São Paulo, Brazil, specifically across the BM-S-8 and Bacalhau North blocks.
• The field is situated at a water depth of about 2,050 meters.

Discovery and Exploration

• The Bacalhau field was discovered in March 2012, on the same geological trend as the Lula field, near the Libra area.
• The discovery well, Carcara exploration well 4-SPS-86B, encountered a continuous column of 171 meters of oil at a water depth of 2,027 meters.
• Appraisal wells, including 3-SPS-104DA (Carcara NW) and 3-SPS-105 (Carcara North), confirmed the presence of high-quality light oil with minimal contaminants and no hydrogen sulphide or carbon dioxide contamination. These wells also established the high productivity of the discovery.

Ownership and Partners

• The Bacalhau oil field is jointly owned by Equinor (40%, operator), ExxonMobil (40%), and Petrogal Brasil (20%). Pré-sal Petróleo SA (PPSA) is involved as a non-investor government agency managing the pre-salt area.

Development Plan

• The development of the Bacalhau field is planned in a phased manner. The first phase involves the drilling of 19 subsea wells, the installation of 130 km of flowlines and rigid risers, and 35 km of umbilicals.
• A new floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel will be deployed. The FPSO, designed and constructed by MODEC, will have a production capacity of up to 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day and a storage capacity of 2 million barrels. It will also produce and inject up to 530 million standard cubic feet of associated gas per day and inject up to 200,000 barrels of seawater per day to maintain reservoir pressure.

Infrastructure and Operations

• The FPSO will be permanently moored by a spread mooring system supplied by SOFEC. MODEC will operate the FPSO for the first year, after which Equinor will take over the operations until the end of the license period in 2053.
• The project includes the use of a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine system to increase energy efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. The lifetime average CO2 intensity is expected to be less than 9 kg per barrel produced, significantly lower than the global average.

Reserves and Production

• The Bacalhau field has estimated recoverable reserves of more than two billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bboe), with the first phase targeting over one billion barrels of oil.
• The production design capacity is up to 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day, with the stabilized oil to be transported by shuttle tankers.

Investment and Timeline

• The final investment decision (FID) for the first phase of the project was taken in June 2021, with an estimated investment of $8 billion.
• First oil from the field is expected in 2024, although initial projections suggested it could be as early as 2023-24. The project timeline has been influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic and related health and safety restrictions.

Environmental and Social Impact

• Significant efforts have been made to reduce emissions from the production phase. The project aims to maintain a low carbon footprint, with a lifetime average CO2 intensity significantly lower than the global average.
• The development of the Bacalhau field is expected to generate significant investments, create local jobs, and have positive economic and social impacts on Brazil.

Technical and Contractual Details

• The project involves several major contracts, including front-end engineering and design (FEED) and engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) contracts. MODEC is responsible for the FPSO, while the Subsea Integration Alliance (SIA) between Subsea 7 and OneSubsea handles the subsea, umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF) scope.
• The FPSO will utilize MODEC's new "M350 Hull" design, a double-hull design that accommodates larger topsides and storage capacity with a longer design service life.