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P-78 FPSO

P-78 is a purpose-built, spread-moored FPSO serving the Búzios 6 development in Brazil’s pre-salt Santos Basin. First oil was produced on 31 December 2025. Located in approximately 2,100 metres of water, it handles oil and associated gas from subsea wells, stores crude for tanker offloading and exports sales gas through a permanent connection to the Rota 3 pipeline.

Operator: Petrobras

Status: Operational

P-78 FPSO platform photo

Image Source: https://hmt-news.com. (All rights belong to the original owner.)

Production: Oil & Gas

Operations start: 2025

Water depth: 2100 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

The Búzios 6 production system comprises 13 subsea wells connected to P-78: six producers and seven injectors. Published project descriptions further identify six water-alternating-gas injectors and one dedicated gas injector, with two producer completions designed for possible conversion to injection service. Intelligent completions support zonal control. Rigid pipelines carry production, injection fluids and export gas; flexible pipelines provide service and gas-lift connections, with electro-hydraulic umbilicals supplying subsea control and monitoring. The topsides separate and stabilise crude, treat produced water, condition seawater for reservoir injection, and compress and treat associated gas for fuel, gas lift, injection and export. Permanent equipment includes gas-injection and export compression, process and fiscal metering, chemical injection, power generation, flare and pressure-relief systems, firewater, integrated control and safety systems, emergency shutdown and fire-and-gas detection. The design also incorporates exhaust-gas recovery, variable-speed drives on selected pumps and compressors, and heat integration between process streams. P-78 is approximately 345 metres long and carries 23 topside modules. Its purpose-built hull has a minimum crude-storage capacity of two million barrels and is held at the field by a permanent spread-mooring system. Oil is exported to shuttle tankers through the vessel’s offloading arrangement. Treated gas leaves through a rigid export line connected to Rota 3, which transports pre-salt gas to the Boaventura Energy Complex at Itaboraí. P-78 is an independent FPSO host with no bridge connection to another installation.

P-78 FPSO layout
Image Source: Linkedin: Spinergie. (All rights belong to the original owner.)

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