Brazilian oil major Petrobras has signed a $2.3bn contract with joint venture partners Saipem and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) for the supply of P-79, the eighth floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit to be installed in the Búzios field, in the pre-salt of the Santos Basin. 

The P-79 floater is scheduled to be delivered in 2025 under an EPC contract. The contract will see 25% of local content served.

The unit will have a processing capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil per day and 7.2m cbm of gas per day.

The project envisions linking 14 wells to the FPSO, including 8 producers and 6 injectors, through a subsea infrastructure composed of rigid production and injection pipelines and flexible service pipelines.

Currently, there are four units in operation in the world’s largest deepwater oil field. The fifth and sixth platforms, FPSOs Almirante Barroso and Almirante Tamandaré, are under construction. With the latest deal, Petrobras has two more FPSOs on order and is in the process of contracting for a ninth unit.