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P-79 FPSO

P-79 is a purpose-built FPSO serving the Búzios 8 development in Brazil’s ultra-deep-water Santos Basin. It produced first oil on 1 May 2026 and completed its first crude offloading later that month. Moored in water approaching 2,100 metres, it processes oil and associated gas from subsea wells, stores crude for tanker export and connects gas export to the Rota 3 system.

Operator: Petrobras

Status: Operational

P-79 FPSO platform photo

Image Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/petrobras-p-79-fpso-oil-and-gas-world-dniic. (All rights belong to the original owner.)

Production: Oil & Gas

Operations start: 2026

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 8 project comprises 14 subsea wells connected to P-79: eight producers and six water-alternating-gas injectors. The wells use intelligent completion systems for zonal monitoring and control. Rigid subsea pipelines provide production, injection and gas-export service, while flexible lines carry utilities and other service functions. Risers and electro-hydraulic umbilicals bring the production streams and control circuits to the FPSO, with subsea manifolds gathering flow from the field’s drill centres. P-79’s topsides provide multiphase separation, crude treatment and stabilisation, produced-water handling, seawater treatment and high-pressure injection, gas processing and compression, gas lift, WAG injection and export-gas service. Permanent support systems include onboard electrical generation and distribution, process and export metering, chemical injection, flare and pressure relief, firewater, integrated control and safety systems, subsea control, emergency shutdown, fire-and-gas detection, cargo handling and accommodation. The purpose-built ship-shaped hull was constructed and integrated in South Korea and provides approximately two million barrels of oil storage. A permanent mooring system holds the vessel at the Búzios site. Stabilised crude is stored onboard and periodically transferred to shuttle tankers through the offloading system; the first offloading was completed on 30 May 2026. Treated associated gas is exported through a rigid connection to Rota 3, terminating at the Boaventura Energy Complex at Itaboraí. P-79 is a standalone subsea-production host and has no bridge link to another offshore unit.

P-79 FPSO layout
Image Source: Linkedin: Spinergie. (All rights belong to the original owner.)

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