Equinor awards two major contracts to TechnipFMC, MODEC for natural gas development offshore Brazil

(WO) – Equinor has, on behalf of the BM-C-33 license offshore Brazil with partners Repsol, Sinopec Brasil and Petrobras, awarded a contract for subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) to TechnipFMC, and a sales and purchase agreement (SPA) for the delivery of a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit to MODEC Inc.

BM-C-33 will use combined cycle technology on the FPSO to reduce the CO2 intensity.

The FPSO award is mainly one lump sum turnkey contract including engineering, procurement, construction and installation for the entire unit. The FPSO’s expected delivery date is 2027. MODEC will also provide Equinor with operations and maintenance service of the FPSO for the first year from its start-up, after which Equinor plans to operate the unit.

Equinor has exercised an option with TechnipFMC following their front-end engineering design awarded in July 2022, to deliver integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation for SURF. The SURF system will be installed in water depth of approximately 2900 meters, which is the deepest installation in Equinor’s history.

The contract, described by the supplier as a major award, includes delivery of Subsea 2.0 tree systems, manifolds, jumpers, rigid risers and flowlines, umbilicals, pipeline end terminations, and subsea distribution and topside control equipment. TechnipFMC has a strong local presence and has also been awarded frame agreements for add-on equipment and subsea operational services.

Equinor and partners have decided to develop the BM-C-33 project in the Brazilian Pre-salt area, with an investment of approximately $9 billion.

“BM-C-33 is a world class asset in the Brazilian pre-salt Campos area. Brazil is a core growth area for Equinor, and the company has ambitions to deepen our presence in the country. BM-C-33 will be an important contributor to reach this goal, being a key gas supplier to the domestic market, contributing to industrial development and energy security locally. At the same time, we are committed to use technology to lower our emissions substantially. BM-C-33 has a carbon intensity target of less than 6 kg per boe over the field lifetime, while the global industry average is 16 kg CO2 per bbl,” says Veronica Coelho, Equinor’s Senior Vice President and Country Manager for Brazil.