TotalEnergies has announced first oil from the third 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 2020, “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.
The FPSO will later be connected to the HISEP pilot project, using an innovative high pressure subsea separation technology.
Currently under development, 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 Mero field will reach 590,000 b/d. 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 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”, said 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”.
A statement issued on Wednesday explained that Mero 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.
