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20031-912 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ
Federative Republic of Brazil
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Contracting FPSOs for the Pre-Salt
(Rio de Janeiro, September 15 2008) – PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S/A - PETROBRAS, [Bovespa: PETR3/PETR4, NYSE: PBR/PBRA, Latibex: XPBR/XPBRA, BCBA: APBR/APBRA], a Brazilian international energy company, announces that the Executive Board has approved the contracting of 10 new FPSO-type (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) oil-production platforms for the Pre-Salt areas in the Santos Basin.
The two first FPSO platforms will be chartered by Petrobras from third-parties; they will have a high level of national content and will be destined for use in development pilot projects. Each unit’s daily production capacity will be 100,000 barrels of oil and 5 million cubic meters of natural gas. The units will be installed between 2013 and 2014 in areas that are yet to be defined in the Pre-Salt area.
The eight other production units will belong to Petrobras, will have daily production capacities of 120,000 barrels of oil and 5 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, and will be installed during 2015 and 2016. They will be manufactured in series, beginning with the construction of the hulls at the dry dock of the Rio Grande Shipyard, in Rio Grande do Sul, which has already been leased by Petrobras for a term of 10 years. The production modules to be installed on the hulls will be defined in the future, after the pilot projects and the long duration tests are deployed.
These 10 FPSOs will operate in ultradeep waters, ranging from 2,400 to 3,000 meters from the waterline, and will be used to kick-off the definitive production system in the Pre-Salt area of the Santos Basin.
After the 10 FPSOs are deployed, major technological innovations developed by Petrobras will be introduced for the subsequent production development phases in the Pre-Salt area.
www.petrobras.com.br/ri/english
Contacts: PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S. A. – PETROBRAS
Investor Relations Department I E-mail: petroinvest@petrobras.com.br / acionistas@petrobras.com.br
Av. República do Chile, 65 – 22nd floor - 20031-912 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ I Tel.: 55 (21) 3224-1510 / 9947
This document may contain forecasts that merely reflect the expectations of the Company’s management. Such terms as “anticipate”, “believe”, “expect”, “forecast”, “intend”, “plan”, “project”, “seek”, “should”, along with similar or analogous expressions, are used to identify such forecasts. These predictions evidently involve risks and uncertainties, whether foreseen or not by the Company. Therefore, the future results of operations may differ from current expectations, and readers must not base their expectations exclusively on the information presented herein.
PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S.A--PETROBRAS |
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By: |
/S/ Almir Guilherme Barbassa
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Almir Guilherme Barbassa
Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer |
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This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are statements that are not historical facts, and are based on management's current view and estimates offuture economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. The words "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "expects", "plans" and similar expressions, as they relate to the company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the declaration or payment of dividends, the implementation of principal operating and financing strategies and capital expenditure plans, the direction of future operations and the factors or trends affecting financial condition, liquidity or results of operations are examples of forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee that the expected events, trends or results will actually occur. The statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, and operating factors. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.