Petrobras has reported that the FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão started production May 24 in the Mero Field (Libra Block) in the presalt Santos Basin.
Petrobras says this is more than two months ahead of schedule, according to its business plan.
The platform, chartered by Petrobras from SBM Offshore, has the capacity to produce 180,000 bbl/d of oil and process 12 MMcm/d of gas. The FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão is the fifth platform in the field, joining the Pioneiro de Libra, Guanabara, Sepetiba and Marechal Duque de Caxias units.
With the new FPSO in operation, the field's installed production capacity will be increased from 590,000 to 770,000 bbl/d, which represents an increase of 31%.
Twelve wells will be connected to the platform, linked by a robust subsea infrastructure, five of which will produce oil, six will alternately inject water or gas, and one will be a convertible well, which will initially act as an oil producer and later as a gas injector.
To maximize production and reduce risks, the wells are equipped with resources for production and injection at previously selected intervals, which can be changed remotely by the platform—a technology known as intelligent completion.
The platform is equipped with resources to operate the HISEP (High Pressure Separator) in the future, a technology patented by Petrobras and currently under qualification, that allows the subsea separation of the extracted oil and the associated CO2-rich gas, which is reinjected directly into the reservoir.
The operations of the unitized Mero Field are conducted by the consortium members of the Libra production sharing contract, operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell Brasil (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNOOC (9.65%), CNPC (9.65%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA), which in addition to managing the contract, acts as the Ffederal government's representative in the non-contracted area (3.5%).
The FPSO is located 180 km from the coast of Rio de Janeiro in a water depth of about 2,000 m.
The partners say the FPSO used in Mero 4 is one of the largest FPSOs in the world, which was integrated in China in December 2024 and arrived at the oil field in March 2025.
FID on Mero 4 was announced in August 2021.
Shell is the second largest oil and gas producer in Brazil, only behind Petrobras. The company says Mero 4 contributes to its Capital Market Day 2025 commitment to deliver upstream and integrated gas projects coming on stream between 2025 to 2030 with a total peak production of more than 1 MMboe/d.
