Brazilian oil giant Petrobras has taken a final investment decision (FID) for the Sergipe-Alagoas Deepwater (SEAP) project, a strategic initiative to increase natural gas supply on the country's northeast coast.

FPSO Contracting and Schedule

The FID specifically approves the first floating production, storage and offloading vessel, SEAP-2, with operations expected to start in 2030. Petrobras anticipates concluding negotiations with Dutch contractor SBM Offshore for this unit in the first half of 2026. The agreement includes an option for Petrobras to subsequently order the SEAP-1 FPSO. Both vessels will be contracted under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, granting SBM a six-and-a-half-year operating period for each before ownership transfers to Petrobras.

FPSO Specifications and Deployment

The SEAP-2 FPSO will have a processing capacity of 120,000 barrels per day of oil and 12 million cubic metres per day of natural gas. It will produce light oil from the Budiao, Budiao Noroeste, and Budiao Sudeste fields located in blocks BM-SEAL-4, BM-SEAL-4A, and BM-SEAL-11. The slightly smaller SEAP-1 FPSO will process 120,000 bpd of oil and 10 MMcmd of gas from the Agulhinha, Agulhinha Oeste, Cavala, and Palombeta fields in blocks BM-SEAL-10 and BM-SEAL-11.

Associated Infrastructure

Petrobras plans to issue a tender next year to contract a gas pipeline linking the two FPSOs to shore. The planned pipeline will be 12 inches in diameter, stretch 128 kilometres, and have a capacity to export up to 18 MMcmd of gas to an onshore treatment facility at Barra dos Coqueiros.