Offshore staff

MONACO -- SBM Offshore has agreed a 21-year charter and operations contract for the FPSO Cidade de Paraty for the Lula Nordeste development offshore Brazil.

Agreements have been signed with the BM-S-11 consortium, comprising operator Petrobras, BG Group, and GALP Energia. SBM Offshore and Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás (QGOG) had been awarded a Letter of Intent in May 2010.

A joint venture of SBM Offshore, QGOG, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, and ITOCHU will own and operate the vessel.

Lula Nordeste is in block BM-S-11 in the Santos basin, 265 km (165 mi) offshore and in 2,100 m (6,890 ft) water depth. The FPSO’s topside facilities will be able to process 150,000 b/d of production fluids, also providing associated gas treatment for 5 MMcm/d (176.5 MMcf/d), compression, carbon dioxide removal, and water injection at 150,000 b/d.

SBM Offshore and its JV partners have secured a $ 1-billion loan from a syndicate of banks to finance construction of the vessel. The loan will be repaid over 10 years starting at first oil.

07/14/2011