Final investment decision for Bacalhau phase 1 in Brazil

Equinor (operator, 40%) and ExxonMobil (40%), Petrogal Brasil (20%) and government company Pré-sal Petróleo SA (PPSA) have decided to develop phase one of the Bacalhau field in the Brazilian pre-salt Santos area at a cost of some $8bn.

Bacalhau is the first greenfield development by an international operator in the pre-salt area, according to Arne Sigve Nylund, Equinor’s Executive Vice President for Projects, Drilling and Procurement. He also reports that the project has a breakeven below $35/b, with estimated recoverable reserves for the first phase of more than 1bn barrels of oil.

First oil is planned in 2024.

Bacalhau lies across two licences, BM-S-8 and Norte de Carcará. Field development will consist of 19 subsea wells tied back to what will be one of the largest floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels in Brazil, with a production capacity of 220,000 b/d and 2mn barrels in storage capacity. Oil will be offloaded to shuttle tankers and the gas from Phase 1 will be re-injected in the reservoir.

Significant efforts have been made to reduce emissions from the production phase, report the project partners, including a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) system to increase energy efficiency at the power station.

The lifetime average CO₂ intensity is expected to be less than 9 kg/b produced, significantly lower than the global average of 17 kg/b, reports Equinor and partners.