A Petrobras oil platform in Guanabara bay
Brazil’s offshore remains buoyant
The sector is attracting attention from both domestic and international firms
The outlook for Brazilian crude production remains rosy, as NOC Petrobras, IOCs and independents all continue to pursue offshore opportunities. Brazilian NOC Petrobras expects to start production at its 180,000bl/d Mero-1 field in the first half of 2022. The start date was previously postponed from the fourth quarter of 2021 to the first quarter of this year, so the latest target might hint at additional delays. Petrobras previously attributed the project’s delays to the impact of Covid-19 on floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit construction in China. But the Guanabara FPSO arrived at the field in late January this year. Mero-1 is intended as the first of four developments
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