Author: Rafael Bortoloti

Petrobras’ tender for the charter of RSVs closed last Thursday with a relevant number of offers considering the various types of RSV (crane specification and number of ROVs) the Brazilian oil company is seeking. All offers presented consider Brazilian built or REB vessels and contract duration of 1460
days firm. For Lot A that required a vessel with one WROV and no crane, the best bid was presented by Bram Offshore for the vessel Deborah Kay at USD 59.620,84. In Lot B, where Petrobras was seeking a vessel with a 30t- 70t AHC crane, 1-2 WROV and for the last batch a diesel mechanic vessel, the
lowest bid for the four batches available was presented also by Bram Offshore for the vessel Bongo at a daily rate ranging from USD 64.530,91 to USD 78.230,88.

Bram Offshore also scored first place in lot C with vessel Bongo at USD 66.780.40 for the batch that
required a 30t AHC crane and one WROV and USD 59.620,84 for the other batch that required 1x WROV and no crane. Lot D, which was divided in three batches, had Oceanica placed first in batch D1 at a daily rate of USD 76.275,39 for a position that requires a 30t AHC crane and two WROV. In batch D2, Bram Offshore managed to secure first place once again with vessel Bram Bravo at USD 65.764,55 for a vessel with a 30t AHC crane and one WROV. Lastly, batch D3 that required a diesel mechanic vessel with a
30t AHC crane and one WROV had Deborah Kay from Bram Offshore first at a daily rate of
USD 65.602,94.

Equinor has contracted Saipem to install the gas pipeline for the Raia project, Campos Basin, around 200 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. The Italian company will have to provide the offshore transportation and installation of the underwater gas export line and associated equipment, at depths of around
2.900 meters. Saipem will use the Castorone vessel for the work. In September, Equinor presented the commerciality declarations and development plan for two natural gas fields (Raia Manta and
Raia Pintada), both in the Campos Basin. The company is the main operator of the field, with a 35% stake. The gas will be transported through the gas pipeline to be installed.

Petrobras’ Board of Directors approved its Strategic Plan for the five-year period 2024-2028 planning to invest USD 102 billion over the next five years. The oil production curve considers the entry of 14 FPSOs in the 2024-2028 period, 10 of which have already been contracted.

A new generation of platforms is being built, more modern, more technological, more efficient and with lower emissions. With the new plan, Petrobras aims to produce 3.2 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent per day in five years. E&P CAPEX for the 2024-2028 period totals USD 73 billion, with around 67% allocated to the pre-salt.

The E&P segment remains relevant to the company, with a strategic focus on profitable assets and
investments compatible with a long-term vision aligned with the energy transition. At the same time, the company maintains significant deepwater revitalization projects (REVIT) as well as complementary projects, to increase recovery factors in mature fields.

Petrobras has granted a contract extension to PSV 3000 Singrar of owners Bravante. She was chartered back in 2020 through a SEP from Petrobras dedicated to support the Mero field. The vessel will
continue under charter with the Brazilian oil company until Q3 2024.

Wilson Sons signed a contract with BP (British Petroleum) to provide logistical support services for oil exploration activities in the Pau Brasil block, in Guanabara Bay. The contract lasts for one year, and the support will be provided through Base Rio, located in the port region of Rio de Janeiro. The place has five berths and 65 thousand square meters.

Last Thursday (22), Petrobras published on its portal the result of the AHTS-TS opportunity, in which the offer from the vessel A.H. Liguria, of owners CBO, was qualified. The result followed as expected as the offer was in first place and only one vessel would be hired for this opportunity. Earlier this year, Petrobras hired another vessel under the AHTS-TS category, namely Atlantic Kingfisher which was offered by Posidonia Shipping.

PRIO released a new tender to charter a PSV 3000 for two years firm plus two years option contract. Commencement is expected for March or June 2024. The company is looking for a DP2 vessel with at least 720m2 of free deck area and capacity to carry fluids and dry bulk. In case of interest owners have until November 24th to present an offer.

PSV 3000 CBO Valentina was fixed by Foresea for seven days firm plus options to perform cargo runs to semi-submersible rig Norbe VI.

BW Energy has completed the acquisition of the FPSO Cidade de Vitória from Saipem. The unit currently produces approximately 10.000 barrels of oil per day from the Golfinho field. The company currently has two vessels from Oceanpact chartered to support production, namely Ilha da Trindade and Ilha de Santana.

Last Thursday, Petrobras’ PLSV tender for Brazilian or REB flag closed out with a great number of vessels participating in the opportunity, mostly due to the five groups (A through E) with different mobilization dates, ranging from March 2024 all the way to March 2026 and three distinct technical specifications, segregated by Petrobras as PLSV types A, B and C.

Offers for PLSVs type A comprised the most amount of batches and, logically, the highest number of candidates too. The prices ranged from USD 242K to USD 467K per day with a total of 14 vessels offered for batches A2, B1, B2, B4, C1, D1, D2, D3, D4, D6, D7 and E1. The PLSV type B had just one batch dedicated to it and only Normand Cutter was presented as candidate, with a rate of roughly USD 304K per day. The third and last specification, PLSV type C, received no offers in all of its 4 dedicated batches.
Practically all the vessels offered in this opportunity are already working in Brazil and waving Brazilian flag, with the exception of Subseas7’s Seven Cruzeiro, Solstad’s Normand Cutter, DOF’s Skandi Açu and Skandi Búzios and Oceanica’s TBN vessel, which are all sailing under foreign flag and will have to seek ways
to join the REB, if awarded.

In this opportunity, Petrobras considered firm contracts of 3 years for all vessels offered in Groups A, B and D and 4 years for groups C and E. Although they did not disclose the number of vessels to be hired in this opportunity, since most of the candidates already work for Petrobras the expectation is that all these positions will be replenished with the offers received.

Last Wednesday (08) was the deadline for Petrobras to receive offers for its OSRV tender. This was the first OSRV opportunity from the Brazilian oil company that required vessels to be equipped with drones and certified crew to operate the equipment and seeks to charter up to 12 vessels. The lot A with mobilization for February 2024 or 60 days upon contract signature had Galaxia Navegação placed first with GNL 1015 (ex-Varada Maresias) at USD 28.172,00 while lot B with mobilization for May 2024 or 150 days upon contract execution had Asgaard Sophia from owners Asgaard Bourbon Navegação ranked first at USD
26.135,00. Petrobras’ reference budget for this tender was USD 21.883,33.