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FEATURE P etrobras FPSOs model. With this, the company would be guarding against

Today’s Petrobras is much better than eventual loss of competitiveness. This is because the main 2015, but there is still a lot to do” ...“It players are involved in three bids for FPSO charters promot- has been saved from the relegation of the ed by the national operator: Mero 2, Parque das Baleias and second division, but there is still a lot to

Marlim 1 and 2. “There is the possibility that if Petrobras enters the market with one more charter, maybe there may do to be a champion. A new era begins.

be only one or two players in the Itapu tender,” explained an

Petrobras President industry source.

In addition to Modec, which has already won the Mero 1

Roberto Castello Branco and Sepia contracts, others including SBM, Teekay, MISC,

Yinson are potential bidders. Petrobras’ Director of Produc- tion & Technology Development, Hugo Repsold, said last year that the company plans to resume contracting its own

FPSOs only in the case of units with operations starting in 2023. It remains to be seen if the new administration will keep to that policy, but well-placed sources indicate that a change of policy in this case is unlikely.

The Itapu pre-salt play in the Santos Basin, is in 2,000 meters water depth about 200 km from the coast of Rio de

Janeiro. Its in situ volumes of 1.3 billion barrels of oil is a signi