Equinor and its partners launched production in Bacalhau in Brazil's offshore Santos basin, which the Norwegian majority state-owned energy major said is the biggest field it has developed overseas.
Discovered in 2012 in the pre-salt region by Petroleo Brasileiro SA, the ultra-deepwater field holds recoverable reserves over one billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to Equinor, which assumed operatorship in 2016. The field is located 185 kilometers from the coast of Ilhabela municipality in Sao Paulo state.
Phase 1 involves 19 wells, including producers and injectors, to be activated sequentially during ramp-up. "Equinor will be positioned to provide an update in 2026 during the ramp-up phase," the company stated.
The Bacalhau facility features one of Brazil's largest floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels, built by MODEC Inc., capable of producing up to 220,000 barrels of crude daily and storing at least two million barrels. The FPSO is permanently moored in waters about 2,050 meters deep using a spread mooring system from MODEC's SOFEC Inc.
"Brazil is a core area for us and Bacalhau will be a major contributor to Equinor's goal of generating more than $5 billion of free cashflow by 2030 from our international portfolio," said Philippe Mathieu, Equinor executive vice president for international exploration and production.
"Bacalhau will also deliver positive ripple effects and long-term benefits to Brazil's economy, creating approximately 50,000 jobs over its 30-year lifetime," Mathieu added.
"Bacalhau represents a new generation of projects that bring together scale, cost-efficiency and lower carbon intensity," said Equinor president and chief executive Anders Opedal.
"With this development, we are strengthening the longevity of our oil and gas production and securing value creation for decades to come," Opedal added.
The FPSO incorporates combined-cycle gas turbines to minimize emissions, achieving a CO2 intensity of around nine kilograms per barrel of oil equivalent. Equinor highlighted advanced abatement measures for flaring, processing, power generation, and storage, establishing a benchmark for efficient, lower-emission deepwater operations.
MODEC noted this as its 17th FPSO/FSO delivery in Brazil, the ninth in the pre-salt region, and its first collaboration with Equinor. MODEC will handle operations and maintenance for the first year, after which Equinor will manage the facilities until the license ends.
Equinor holds a 40 percent operating stake, with partners Exxon Mobil Corp (40 percent) and Petrogal SA (20 percent), a joint venture between Portugal's Galp Energia SGPS SA and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. Pre-Sal Petroleo SA, representing the Brazilian government, oversees the production sharing contract.
Bacalhau marks the first pre-salt field development led by an international operator in Brazil, enhancing regional energy production and economic contributions.
