Brazil's Bacalhau Field Reaches Cumulative Oil Production of 25 Million Barrels

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 15, Equinor disclosed on the first anniversary of production start-up at the Bacalhau field in Brazil that the field has produced a cumulative 25 million barrels of crude oil and completed 25 crude oil offloading operations. The field is located in the ultra-deepwater pre-salt area of the Santos Basin and officially commenced production on October 15, 2025. With new production wells being connected and commissioning work progressing, the field's output has approached stable production levels, with plans to reach the designed capacity of 220,000 barrels per day within 2026.

Phase 1 development of Bacalhau involves an investment of approximately USD 8 billion. Equinor is the operator with a 40% interest; ExxonMobil Brasil holds 40%, and Petrogal Brasil holds 20%, with Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) responsible for production sharing contract management. The field is located approximately 185 kilometers off the coast of Ilhabela in São Paulo State, with an operating water depth exceeding 2,000 meters. Phase 1 plans to deploy 19 production and injection wells, with engineering work related to the third injection well currently underway. The project's recoverable resources exceed 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

The supporting FPSO Bacalhau is 370 meters long and 64 meters wide, featuring a combined-cycle gas turbine power generation system that utilizes gas turbine waste heat for steam turbine power generation. Equinor disclosed that the facility's carbon dioxide emissions intensity per unit of crude oil production is approximately 9 kilograms per barrel, below the global industry average of 17 kilograms per barrel cited by the company. MODEC is responsible for initial operations of the production facility, with plans to transfer operations to Equinor subsequently.

Since production start-up, approximately 900 personnel per day have participated in offshore production and related operations at the Bacalhau field, with approximately 3,000 helicopter flights completed, supporting personnel transport and offshore operational support. The project has a planned production life of approximately 30 years, and Equinor expects the entire development and operating cycle to create approximately 50,000 jobs.