Dutch floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) operator SBM Offshore has announced that it has held a naming ceremony for FPSO Almirante Tamandaré.
The FPSO will be deployed at Brazilian state-owned energy giant Petrobras’ oil field off the coast of Brazil, the Buzios field. The field is located in the Santos Basin, about 180 kilometers offshore Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and is the world’s largest deepwater oil field.
According to SBM Offshore, the name of the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré is “rich in historical significance and national pride”, says Marquis Joaquim Marques Lisboa, a 19th-century military hero and general of the Brazilian Imperial Army. Marquis of Tamandaré Joaquim Marques Lisboa was a 19th century military hero and general of the Brazilian Imperial Army.
The FPSO Almirante Tamandaré is described with SBM Offshore’s leading Fast4Ward® universal hull design and is expected to have a greenhouse gas (GHG) emission intensity of less than 10 kgCO2e/boe1, with a capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil and 12 million m³ of natural gas per day, and is expected to be put into operation in the second half of 2024. This is the sixth FPSO in the Buzios field and the largest FPSO currently operating offshore Brazil.
After obtaining a binding Letter of Intent (LoI) in February 2021, SBM Offshore entered into a 26.25-year lease and operating contract for the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré with Petrobras in July 2021.In September 2021, SBM Offshore secured a bridge loan valued at $635 million for the construction of the FPSO.
In early 2022, SBM Offshore sold a minority stake in the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré to two Japanese companies; and in March 2023, SBM Offshore completed project financing for the FPSO, securing loans totaling $1.63 billion from a consortium of 13 international banks, insured by four international export credit agencies ( ECAs) to provide insurance.
Currently, the FPSO Almirante Tamandaré is owned and operated by a special purpose company, SPC, which is owned by a subsidiary of SBM Offshore (55%) and its partners (45%).