By Ejekwu Chidiebere
The French oil major – TotalEnergies says it has achieved its first oil from the fourth development phase of the Mero 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.
Launched in August 2021 as Energy Window International (Media) has gathered through the Company’s statement, this new phase referred to as “Mero-4” will connect 12 wells to the new Alexandre de Gusmão FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) unit, with a production capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil per day (b/d). The project according to the Company has been designed to minimize greenhouse gas emissions, with reinjection of the associated gas into the reservoir and zero routine flaring.
This startup TotalEnergies said would bring Mero’s total production capacity to 770,000 b/d through five FPSOs, which also represents about 100,000 boe/d in the Company’s share at full capacity.
“The start-up of Mero-4 marks the end of the development of this world-class field -with the commissioning of four FPSOs in three years- and the start of a long-term production phase generating robust free cash flow. This is a great achievement for the Libra consortium and a major milestone for TotalEnergies in Brazil, a key growth country for our Company”, says Nicolas Terraz, President Exploration and Production at TotalEnergies. “With its vast resources and high productivity, the Mero field delivers low cost and low emission oil production in line with our Company strategy and contributes significantly to the achievement of our objective to grow our production by 3% per year between 2024 and 2030.”
Mero according to the press 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.
TotalEnergies said it has been in operation in Brazil for 50 years, with employment figure of close to 4,000 workers. Adding that it has presence in the country’s exploration and production, gas, renewable electricity (solar and wind), lubricants and chemicals sectors.
Its exploration and production portfolio in the country TotalEnergies said includes, at the moment, 11 licenses, of which four are operated. The Company also noted that its average production in the country in 2024 was 153,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Recounting its investment in the growth of the renewable energy segment in Brazil, the Company said that in October 2022, it entered a partnership with Casa dos Ventos, Brazil’s leading renewable energy player, to jointly develop a 12 GW renewable energy portfolio, including onshore wind, photovoltaic and battery storage systems.