Cidade-De-Ilhabela

An oil production ship sailed from Rio de Janeiro en route for a Brazilian offshore oil field owned by Brazil's state-run Petrobras, Britain's BG Group plc and a joint venture between Spain's Repsol SA and China's Sinopec, Petrobras said on Wednesday. The ship, known as the Cidade de Ilhabela, is expected to begin operations by the end of the year in the Sapinhoa offshore field in the BM-S-9 block south of Rio. It is more than a year behind schedule, and Petroleo Brasileiro SA - as Petrobras is formally known - is counting on the vessel to help boost production and revenue after five years of stagnating output.The floating production, storage and offloading ship, or FPSO, is being leased from the Netherlands's SBM Offshore NV and Brazil's Queiroz Galvao Oil and Gas, Petrobras said in a statement.The ship sails as the future of SBM in Brazil is in doubt. The company, the world's largest operator of FPSOs is under investigation in several countries after allegations from a former employee emerged in February suggesting SBM paid US$250 million in bribes, with US$139 million of that paid in Brazil. – Source : Reuters

The FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela sailed away from the Niteroi-Rio based Brasa shipyard yesterday, enroute to block BM-S-9 at the Sapinhoá Field offshore Brazil to fulfill a 20-year contract for Petrobras (45%), BG E&P (30%) and YPF Repsol (25%). The FPSO is owned and will be operated by Joint Venture partners SBM Offshore N.V., Queiroz Galvão Óleo e Gás S.A.(QGOG) and Mitsubishi Corporation and since January of this year, has been going through the integration of her hull and topsides with the help of Brasa’s heavy lift crane barge, the largest in Latin America. SBM Offshore notes that of the FPSO’s 18 modules, the yard fabricated 10 – weighing a total of about 12,500 tons. For Brasa, the completion of this project was a significant achievement considering the yard has only been in operation since July 2012.

Petrobras oil and gas production vessel in Brazil for upgradesThe FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela, the floating oil and gas production, storage and offloading vessel scheduled to operate in the Sapinhoá field, Santos Basin, has arrived at the Brasa shipyard in Niterói (RJ) to finish lifting and integrating thirteen modules into its processing plant. The new platform was converted from an oil tanker at the CXG shipyard in China. The modules will be integrated at the Brasa shipyard in a partnership with companies SBM Offshore and the Synergy Group. The shipyard is also responsible for building thirteen of the eighteen modules for the FSPO’s processing plant. The platform, which has the capacity to store up to 1.6 million barrels of oil, is due to come on-stream in the second half of 2014. It will be installed in 2,140 meters of water and will have capacity to process up to 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and compress 6 million cubic meters of gas. The FPSO Cidade de Ilhabela arrived in Brazil on December 29 and has been docked at the Brasa shipyard since January 12.