Petrobras shuffles pre-salt plans

Long-term production project delayed as economic malaise upends upstream timeline

Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras will slow its pre-salt production plans following lingering market volatility and surging global Covid-19 infections. Startup at the producer’s offshore Parque das Baleias project in the Campos basin will be pushed back a full year into 2024. The project was initially included as part of the producer’s long-term strategy plan for the pre-salt. Three floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels were scheduled to start up in the region in 2023, including at the Marlim and Mero fields. Production capacity was projected to increase by at least 250,000bl/d. But this year’s economic downturn has led Petrobras to cut all unnecessary outlay.