The FPSO (Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading Unit) Alexandre de Gusmão left China today, December 16, heading towards the Mero oil field in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin. The platform, leased by Petrobras in partnership with SBM, can produce 180,000 barrels of oil per day and compresses 12 million cubic meters of gas daily. The unit is expected to start operations in 2025, increasing Mero's current production capacity by 31%, reaching 770,000 barrels daily.
 
Mero is located in ultra-deep waters of the Santos Basin (2,100 meters deep), 180 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Are already four FPSOs operating at Mero: Pioneiro de Libra, Guanabara, Sepetiba, and Marechal Duque de Caxias. The FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão will be the fifth unit installed in the field.
 
The unitized Mero field is governed by the Libra Production Sharing Agreement, operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell Brasil (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNOOC (9.65%), CNPC (9.65%), and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA), which also represents the Union in the non-contracted area (3.5%).
 
The FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão is designed to receive the HISEP® (High-Pressure Separator) technology, patented by Petrobras. This technology allows the subsea separation of extracted oil and the associated gas, rich in CO₂ and reinjected directly into the reservoir from the seabed. This enables the unit to operate with greater energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact and emission intensity.
 
According to Sylvia Couto dos Anjos, E&P Director: "The FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão will be the fifth platform installed at the Mero field, with production expected to begin in mid-2025. It will join the FPSOs Pioneiro de Libra, Guanabara—the largest producer platform in operation in Brazil—and Sepetiba and Marechal Duque de Caxias. Since 2022, we have started producing one large system per year at Mero, demonstrating the capability of our teams and the quality of this world-class asset."
 
"Mero presents many technical challenges for our teams, but we are motivated to operate in the Santos Basin and lead major FPSO projects like the Alexandre de Gusmão, together with our partners, in one of the most promising offshore regions globally," said Renata Baruzzi, Petrobras' Director of Engineering, Technology, and Innovation.