First oil was produced from the Libra mega-field, located in ultra-deep waters 180 kilometers offshore Rio de Janeiro, in the pre-salt Santos Basin in Brazil, Total announced on Monday.
The Libra field is operated by Petrobras with a 40 percent interest as part of an international consortium whose other partners include Total (20 percent), Shell (20 percent), CNOOC (10 percent) and CNPC (10 percent).
The Pioneiro de Libra floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit has a capacity of 50,000 barrels of oil, the French giant said, adding this start-up of the early production system will generate revenue while also enabling technical data to be collected to optimize the subsequent development phases.
"Beyond this early production phase, the Libra development will further continue with the next investment decision for the Libra 1 FPSO with a capacity of 150,000 barrels per day," Total said.
Total underlined its intention to invest in other production units of similar capacity in the years ahead, in order that the field is developed to its full potential.
By Ebru Sengul
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr