Petrobras Baptizes Brazil's P-51 Semisub Platform

Petrobras will baptize the P-51, the first semisubmersible platform built entirely in Brazil, today, October 7, at the BrasFels shipyard in Angra dos Reis (RJ). Scheduled to operate in the Marlim Sul field, in the Campos Basin (RJ), the unit is a milestone in a new achievement of the Brazilian naval industry, with local content of more than 75% of goods and services purchased from domestic vendors.

The baptism ceremony will be attended by the president of the Republic, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Petrobras, Jose Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, by Petrobras' former president and the current president of BR Distribuidora, Jose Eduardo Dutra, as well as by ministers of State and Company directors. The platform's godmother will be first lady Marisa Letícia Lula da Silva.

The construction of the P-51 is a milestone in the Brazilian naval industry resumption process. In February 2003, shortly after president Lula took office, Petrobras' board decided to suspend the bidding process for the P-51 and for the P-52, which was already in progress, in order to include the minimum national content requirement in the bid notice.

From then on, the requirement was adopted in all bidding procedures carried out by Petrobras. This allowed the Brazilian naval industry to restructure itself, and it is now able to supply most of the large program of orders the Company recently announced for the upcoming years.

The P-51 is one of the projects included in the Federal Government’s Growth Acceleration Plan (GAP). This platform’s construction work generated some 4,000 direct and 12,000 indirect jobs, contributing both to the growth of the domestic industry and to increase the volume of jobs in the Country.

In 2010, when it reaches its top operating capacity, of 180,000 barrels of oil and 6,000,000 cubic meters of gas per day, the P-51 will account for 8% of the domestic oil production. The new unit is also part of the Natural Gas Production Anticipation Plan (Plangás) and will be strategic to increase natural gas supply in the Brazilian market.

Additionally, the P-51 is part of the Outflow and Treatment Master Plan (PDET) for the Campos Basin, a strategic logistics system designed to outflow the oil and gas produced in this region. Of the 6,000,000 m3 of gas that will be produced per day, part will be used for the unit’s internal consumption, as fuel to generate power, while the rest will be offloaded to land.

The P-51 will be anchored in the Marlim Sul field, at a depth of 1255 m, and installed 150 km off the coast. It will be interconnected to 19 wells (10 oil and gas producers and 9 water injectors) and will produce oil of 22 degrees API. The platform is expected to sail to the Campos Basin in October and to start operating late this year.

With investments in the order of some $1 billion, the platform was built by the FSTP (Keppel Fells and Technip) consortium in the cities of Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Itaguai, and Angra dos Reis, by Nuovo Pignone, in Rio de Janeiro, and by Rolls Royce, in Niteroi.