Equinor begins production in Brazil's Bacalhau Oilfield
Equinor, a Norwegian oil company, announced on Thursday that it had begun production in Brazil at its Bacalhau field one year after the original investment decision in 2021.
Equinor said that Bacalhau, with recoverable reserves exceeding 1 billion barrels equivalent oil (boe), is the largest offshore field developed to date by Equinor.
Equinor CEO Anders Opedal stated in a press release that "this development will strengthen the longevity of our production of oil and gas and ensure value creation for many decades to come."
The company stated that production will increase gradually with updates in output expected by 2026.
The field was discovered in 2012, about 185 km (115 mi) off the coasts of Sao Paulo. It is equipped with a FPSO (floating production, storage, and offloading vessel) capable of pumping up to 220,000 bbls of oil each day.
Equinor announced in 2023 that the production of Bacalhau was delayed from 2024 to 2025 due to the COVID-19 virus pandemic, which had caused delays.
Operator Equinor owns 40% of the field. ExxonMobil Brasil has 40%, and Petrogal Brasil is a joint venture formed by Sinopec and Galp, Portugal.
Pre-Sal Petroleo, a Brazilian government-owned company, is the manager of the production-sharing agreement. (Reporting and editing by Stine Jacqueson and Louise Heavens, with Terje Solsvik)
(source: Reuters)