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P-76 FPSO

P-76 is a converted-VLCC FPSO serving the Búzios 3 development in the pre-salt Santos Basin. It began producing oil and associated gas in February 2019. The vessel is permanently moored roughly 180 kilometres offshore Rio de Janeiro in about 2,030 metres of water, processing subsea production, storing crude for shuttle-tanker export and sending treated gas ashore through the Rota 2 pipeline system.

Operator: Petrobras

Status: Operational

P-76 FPSO platform photo

Production: Oil & Gas

Operations start: 2019

Water depth: 2030 m

Country: Brazil

Block: Búzios Field

Type: FPSO

Field

Búzios is a giant pre-salt oil field about 180–210 kilometres offshore Rio de Janeiro in the ultra-deep-water Santos Basin. Its principal reservoirs are Lower Cretaceous lacustrine carbonates of the Barra Velha and Itapema formations, beneath the regional Ariri salt seal. Development uses multiple FPSO-centred subsea systems, with production and injection wells distributed across the large, structurally and stratigraphically complex accumulation.

Facilities

P-76 was designed to connect ten subsea production wells and seven injection wells through subsea trees, manifolds, flowlines, risers and control umbilicals. The installation uses remotely operated subsea equipment to manage production and reservoir injection from the FPSO. Its topsides comprise multiple modular process systems for oil, gas and water service, including three-phase separation, crude treatment and stabilisation, produced-water handling, seawater treatment and high-pressure injection, gas compression, gas treatment, carbon-dioxide removal and compression, fuel-gas preparation and gas injection. Gas injection entered service after production start-up. The vessel was converted from a very large crude carrier and received approximately 30 topside modules during integration. The hull provides about 1.4 million barrels of crude-storage capacity. Stabilised oil is retained in cargo tanks and offloaded periodically to shuttle or relief tankers; P-76 has no fixed crude-export line to shore. In 2021, the FPSO became directly connected to Rota 2, the pre-salt gas-export pipeline that terminates at the Cabiúnas Gas Treatment Terminal in Macaé. Gas can also be retained for fuel, gas lift and reservoir injection. Supporting systems include onboard electrical generation and distribution, metering, chemical injection, seawater lift, flare and pressure relief, integrated process control, subsea control, emergency shutdown, fire-and-gas detection, firewater, cargo handling, marine systems and accommodation. The permanently moored ship-shaped unit receives all production through subsea risers rather than platform-based dry trees.

P-76 FPSO layout
Image Source: Linkedin: Spinergie. (All rights belong to the original owner.)

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