Galp Targets 40% Oil Output Surge in Brazil with New Field Development

LISBON: Galp of Portugal anticipates increasing its oil and gas output in Brazil by approximately 40 per cent in the coming years as the promising offshore field Bacalhau achieves peak production, executive board member Nuno Bastos informed reporters. Galp generates 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily (boepd) in Brazil via a 70 per cent-30 per cent joint venture with China's Sinopec, which is involved in various projects. The JV holds 20 per cent of the Bacalhau field in the Santos Basin, where a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, capable of handling 220,000 barrels daily, arrived in February. Norwegian energy firm Equinor, which owns a 40 per cent share and operates Bacalhau, anticipates that the FPSO will begin producing its initial barrels in the third quarter.

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"After the FPSO attains its peak over the coming years, Galp's output in Brazil will rise by approximately 40 per cent," Bastos, who leads the upstream sector, informed reporters during an energy conference late Wednesday. Another FPSO in the Tupi-Iracema field, located in the same basin, took 11 months to reach its maximum stable production capacity of 150,000 boepd from the first oil, and for Bacalhau, it is expected to take a longer duration since its plateau is 220,000 boepd. "We are striving to ensure it is as quick and effective as we can," he stated, without specifying a precise date. Equinor projected that the area contains over 1 billion barrels in recoverable reserves for its initial development stage. The remaining 40 per cent of Bacalhau is held by U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil.