Partners launch Mero-2 off Brazil
The partners in the Mero field have taken a final investment decision to proceed with a second floating production, storage and offake (FPSO) vessel, they said June 11. Mero 2 will have a capacity to process up to 180,000 barrels of oil and 12mn m³ of gas daily but the gas will be wholly reinjected.
The consortium plans four new production systems to be deployed in the deepwater Mero field. Mero-2 is the second, with first oil expected in 2022. Mero 1 is to start production in 2021.
Anglo-Dutch major Shell said ‘Deep water’ was set to generate robust cash flow for the company for "decades to come. Production worldwide is on track to reach more than 900,000 boe/d by 2020 from already discovered, established reservoirs." UK BG's pre-salt assets offshore Brazil were one of the reasons for Shell to buy it, but the gas faces bottlenecks in the pipelines to shore and reinjection is the chosen plan for now.
French Total said the decision followed production start-up on the field in November 2017 and the launch of the first phase of the project (Mero 1) about a month later.
“The decision to launch Mero 2 comes as a new milestone in this large-scale project that will develop the giant oil resources of the Mero field, estimated at 3bn to 4bn barrels,” said upstream boss Arnaud Breuillac.
“The Libra Consortium can leverage the excellent productivity of the field to develop a major oil project with technical costs below 20 dollars per barrel and low breakeven. The Mero project will contribute to the growth of the Group’s production from 2020 onwards. Once the full potential of the field is developed, production should reach more than 600,000 b/d,” Total said.
The Pioneiro de Libra FPSO was the first vessel, developing the field in the early stages. It has a capacity of 50,000 b/d and came on stream in 2017. It has provided the partners with useful information on the field, reservoir and productivity of the wells.
The Libra consortium is operated by state Petrobras (40%) as part of an international partnership comprising Total (20%), Shell (20%), Cnooc (10%) and CNPC (10%).