Libra Consortium begins production at Mero field Guanabara FPSO

Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has started producing oil and natural gas through the Guanabara floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO) in Mero field, offshore Brazil.

The project is the first development phase of Mero field in the Libra block, more than 150 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, in the presalt area of the Santos basin. Mero is part of the Libra Production Sharing Contract (PSC), signed in Dec 2013. Final Investment Decision (FID) on Mero-1 was made in 2018.

Guanabara (known as Mero-1 while under construction) has an installed capacity to process 180,000 b/d of oil and 12 million cu m/day of natural gas with an initial six producing wells and seven injector wells connected to the field. It’s the first of four production systems (Mero-2, Mero-3, Mero-4 FPSOs all under construction) of equivalent capacity planned for the field with production start-ups between 2023 and 2025.

Originally scheduled for start-up in fourth-quarter 2021, the operator delayed project start to first-quarter 2022 as the FPSO was being converted in China and the COVID-19 pandemic caused a delay in construction (OGJ Online, Apr. 7, 2021). Peak production is expected by end 2022. Mero field has been in pre-production since 2017 with the 50,000 b/d of oil Pioneiro de Libra FPSO.

Built and operated by Modec, the unit lies in water depths that reach 1,930 m.

Petrobras is operator at Mero with 38.6% interest. Partners are Shell Brasil with 19.3%, TotalEnergies 19.3%, CNPC 9.65%, CNOOC Ltd. 9.65%, and PPSA 3.5%.