Equinor sanctions BM-C-33 development offshore Brazil

Equinor Energy AS has taken final investment decision to develop the BM-C-33 project in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil.

The $9-billion project comprises three different pre-salt discoveries—Pão de Açúcar, Gávea, and Seat—containing natural gas and oil/condensate recoverable reserves over 1 billion boe, the operator said in a release May 8.

The license, which lies about 200 km from shore in water depths up to 2,900 m, will be developed through a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel with a processing capacity of 16 million cu m/d of gas and an average natural gas export flow of about 14 million cu m/day. Start-up is expected in 2028. Oil and gas reserves of over 1 billion boe are expected to be recovered.

BM-C-33 will be Equinor’s second FPSO in Brazil using combined cycle gas turbines, reducing carbon emissions during operations. The average CO₂ intensity of BM-C-33 over its lifetime is expected to be lower than 6 kg/boe, the operator said.

BM-C-33 will be the first project in Brazil to treat gas offshore and be connected to the national grid without further onshore processing. Gas is expected to be exported through a 200-km offshore gas pipeline from the FPSO to Cabiúnas, in Macaé, Rio de Janeiro. Liquids will be offloaded by shuttle tankers.

“Gas exported from the project could represent 15% of the total Brazilian gas demand at start-up,” said Veronica Coelho, Equinor’s country manager in Brazil.

Equinor is operator of BM-C-33 with 35% interest. Partners are Repsol Sinopec Brasil (35%), and Petrobras (30%).