Petrobras announced this week that crude output from its deepwater Mero field reached 500,000 B/D.
The milestone, reached on 28 February, makes Mero the Brazilian national oil company’s third pre-salt field to reach the milestone figure after the larger Tupi and Búzios projects. Petrobras said 81% of its production comes from these pre-salt fields in the Santos Basin.
The Mero development began production in 2017 and now includes four floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) units. The project also features Brazil’s largest FPSO, the Guanabara which has a processing capacity of 180,000 B/D and a storage capacity of 1.4 million bbl.
Discovered in 2010, the Mero field lies in 2100 m of water, about 180 km offshore Rio de Janeiro. Located within the Libra block in the Santos Basin, Mero was acquired by the Libra Consortium in 2013 under Brazil’s first production-sharing contract.
“Since extracting its first oil, Mero’s production has been marked by technological advances, innovation, and production records. The 500,000 B/D mark is the result of the work of several areas and the new technologies used in our projects and in our day-to-day operations,” said Magda Chambriard, CEO of Petrobras in a statement.
Petrobras said it will reach a production capacity of 770,000 B/D from the field later this year when a fifth FPSO, the Alexandre de Gusmão, begins operations. The vessel left China in December 2024 and is en route to Brazil.
Production at the FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias is being ramped up to full capacity, according to the company. Also designed to process up to 180,000 B/D of crude and store 1.4 million bbl, it is the first FPSO in the world to integrate high-pressure separation technology (HISEP).
HISEP is an advanced system developed by TechnipFMC for Petrobras to separate CO₂-rich gas from production streams and reinject it into the reservoir to lower greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, Marechal Duque de Caxias features water alternating gas reinjection technology and a system for stripping and reinjecting CO₂ from fuel gas production, with the capability to compress up to 48 MMscfd of CO₂.
Petrobras’ Buzios field, the second largest in Brazil, reached 800,000 B/D of production on 24 February. The largest field, Tupi, is currently producing over 830,000 B/D with the company planning to raise its production to 1 million B/D by 2027.
The Mero field is operated by Petrobras, which holds a 38.6% interest, alongside partners Shell (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNOOC (9.65%), and CNPC (9.65%). Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (3.5%) serves as the project manager.
