The Cidade de Angra dos Reis oil production platform, the first with large capacity to operate in the pre-salt fields of the Santos Basin, on the Southeast coast, will have its useful life extended for another five years.
The information was released this Wednesday (22) by Petrobras, the majority company in the consortium that operates the Tupi Field, 300 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro.
The platform ship is an FPSO model, an acronym in English for Floating Production Storage and Offloadingwhich means floating unit with capacity for production, storage and transfer of oil.
The FPSO has been in operation since October 2010 and has a production potential of more than 50 thousand barrels per day. Petrobras informed that it has agreed an amendment to the charter and service provision contract for the platform with the companies Tupi Pilot MV 22 BV and Modec Serviços de Petróleo do Brasil Ltda, in order to extend the term of use of the FPSO until 2030.
The extension of the contractual term makes adjustments possible to increase reliability and production efficiency, maintain the integrity of the platform, operational safety and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which cause global warming.
“The signing of these amendments is in line with the 2025-2029 Business Plan and reinforces the commitment of Petrobras and its partners to the continuity and expansion of their operations in the Tupi field,” said the state-owned company in a statement.
The consortium that produces in Tupi states that the platform ship will be decommissioned (definitive interruption of operations) in 2030. According to Petrobras, decommissioning happens when the production facilities reach the end of their useful life or the productive capacity of the fields is reduced, making them economically unviable.
Learn how an oil platform works
Pre-salt
The entry into operation of Cidade Angra dos Reis is considered by Petrobras to be one of the milestones in pre-salt oil production in the country.
The pre-salt are reservoirs drilled at a depth of 5,000 to 7,000 kilometers. To give you an idea, 7 thousand kilometers is approximately the highest point in the Andes Mountains.
In 2024, the pre-salt helped oil become the the country’s main export product.
According to the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP), from January to November – latest data available, the country produced 36.9 million barrels of oil per day (Mbbl/d), with 71.5% originating from the pre-salt. Looking only at data from the second half of the year, this percentage jumps to 80.3%.
In addition to the Santos Basin, there is also oil production in the Campos Basin, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.
The Tupi consortium is formed by Petrobras (67.216%), the Anglo-Dutch Shell (23.024%), the Portuguese Petrogal (9.209%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA), which represents the Brazilian government, which holds 0.551% .
