Equinor and its partners have tapped TechnipFMC to supply the front-end engineering and design (FEED) study for the BM-C-33 project offshore Brazil. The study will finalize the plans for the proposed gas and condensate greenfield development in the pre-salt Campos Basin before Equinor makes its final investment decision.
The FEED study includes an option to proceed with a direct award to TechnipFMC for the integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and installation (EPCI) phase of the project. The EPCI contract would cover the entire subsea system, including tree systems, manifolds, jumpers, rigid risers and flowlines, umbilicals, pipeline end terminations, and subsea distribution and topside control equipment. TechnipFMC would also be responsible for life-of-field services.
Financial terms of the award were not specified. However, if the EPCI contract is awarded, it would be valued in excess of $1 billion.
“We are excited about this award, which demonstrates our collaborative relationship with Equinor and their continued confidence in our technologies and integrated approach,” said Jonathan Landes, president, subsea at TechnipFMC. “This integrated project will be the first time Equinor uses our Subsea 2.0 configure-to-order production systems, of which we’re seeing increased customer adoption.”
The partners green-lit an FPSO-based development concept for BM-C-33 in May 2021.
Gas and oil/condensate will both be processed at the FPSO to sales specifications and exported. Crude will be offloaded by shuttle tankers and shipped to the international market after ship-to-ship transfer. A newbuild hull has been selected to accommodate for the 30-years lifetime of the field.
Gas export is planned to comprise an integrated offshore gas pipeline from the FPSO to a new dedicated onshore gas receiving facility inside the Petrobras TECAB site at Cabiúnas, before connecting to the domestic gas transmission network.
Gas export capacity is planned for 16 million m3/D with average exports expected to be 14 million m3/D. Daily oil processing capacity is of 20,000 m3.
Equinor operates the field with a 35% working interest; partners include Repsol Sinopec Brasil (35%) and Petrobras (30%).
The BM-C-33 field was discovered by Repsol Sinopec Brasil in 2010. Equinor became the operator in 2016. The license is located around 200 km from shore in water depths up to 2900 m.
