TotalEnergies has announced first oil from the third development phase of the Mero oil field on the Libra block, located 180 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin, statement posted to Energy Window International had revealed.
Launched in August 2020 according to the statement, “Mero-3” includes 15 wells connected to the Marechal Duque de Caxias FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading unit), with a production capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d). Mero-3 has been designed to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, with reinjection of the associated gas into the reservoir and zero routine flaring, TotalEnergies said. The FPSO it also said would be connected, much later, to the HISEP® pilot project, using an innovative high pressure subsea separation technology. Currently under development the statement reveals, this pilot project will separate oil from CO2-rich gas at the bottom of the ocean and reinject the gas directly into the reservoir.
With the start-up of Mero-3, the overall production capacity of the field will reach 590,000 b/d, even as an additional development phase of 180,000 b/d – Mero-4, is currently under construction, with a start-up expected in 2025. At full capacity, production from the Mero field is expected to represent over 100,000 b/d in TotalEnergies share, the Company said.
“The production start-up of Mero-3, less than a year after the start-up Mero-2, is a new milestone for TotalEnergies in Brazil, a key growth area for our Company. With its vast resources and world-class productivity, the Mero field delivers low cost and low emission oil production, in line with the strategy of our Company”, says Nicolas Terraz, President Exploration & Production of TotalEnergies. “In the coming years, we will continue to grow our production in Brazil with Mero-4 project expected to start-up in 2025 and the recently sanctioned Atapu-2 and Sépia-2 projects”.
Mero according to the release is a “unitized” field, operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with TotalEnergies (19.3%), Shell Brasil (19.3%), CNPC (9.65%), CNOOC (9.65%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A (PPSA) (3.5%) representing the Government in the non-contracted area.
About how long it has operated in Brazil, the Company says it has been in operation in Brazil for almost 50 years, and employs more than 3,500 people in the country. Its presence it said encompassed Exploration & Production, gas, renewable electricity (solar and wind), lubricants, chemicals and distribution.
Its Exploration & Production portfolio in the country currently includes 11 licenses, of which four are operated. Its average production was 135,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2023.
It also said it started investing in the growth of the renewable energy segment in the country in October 2022, through partnership with Casa dos Ventos, Brazil’s leading renewable energy player, to jointly develop a 12 GW renewable energy portfolio.
The Company said it is also active in the Brazilian fuel distribution market with a network of about 240 filling stations as well as several storage facilities for petroleum products and ethanol.