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 an API gravity of approximately 31°. 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 also involved as a non-investor government agency.

Development Plan

• The development of the Bacalhau field involves a phased approach, with the first phase expected to start production in 2024.
• The project includes 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, named FPSO Bacalhau, will be deployed. This FPSO will be one of the largest in Brazil, with a production capacity of up to 220,000 barrels of crude oil per day and a storage capacity of two million barrels. The FPSO 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 Technology

• The FPSO will be permanently moored by a spread mooring system supplied by SOFEC, Inc..
• The project utilizes 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.
• The FPSO will be built using MODEC's "M350 Hull," a new-generation double-hull design that accommodates larger topsides and storage capacity than conventional VLCC tankers, with a longer design service life.

Investment and Economic Impact

• The final investment decision (FID) for the first phase of the project was made in June 2021, with an estimated investment of $8 billion.
• The project is expected to generate significant economic benefits for Brazil, including investments, supply chain effects, and local job creation.
• The 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.

Environmental Considerations

• The project has been designed with a focus on reducing emissions. The use of a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine system and other efficiency measures aim to keep CO2 emissions low, with a lifetime average CO2 intensity below 9 kg per barrel produced.

Operational Details

• MODEC will operate the FPSO for the first year after production starts, after which Equinor will take over the operation until the end of the license period in 2053.
• The stabilized oil will be transported by shuttle tankers, and the associated gas from Phase 1 will be re-injected into the reservoir.

Contracts and Partnerships

• Major contracts have been awarded to MODEC for the FPSO, and to the Subsea Integration Alliance (SIA) between Subsea 7 and OneSubsea for the subsea, umbilicals, risers, and flowlines (SURF) scope.
• The project emphasizes local content, with around 60% of the SURF contracts expected to involve Brazilian local content.