Norway's Equinor has entered into time charter contracts with the shipowner Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS (Knutsen) for two newbuild shuttle tankers to transport crude oil from the Roncador oil field in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil.
The new vessels will be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea and are scheduled to enter operation in 2020.
The vessels, which meet all requirements for offshore loading in Brazil, are designed for operations in Brazilian waters and are optimized for intended trading pattern, Equinor said. The shuttle tankers will transfer crude to conventional tankers for sale to customer around the world.
In addition to the new shipping capacity for the Roncador production, Equinor said it has seven conventional tankers on long term contracts in operation for the Peregrino field.
With its recent acquisition of a 25 percent interest in the Roncador field, the third largest producing field in Brazil, Equinor’s equity production in Brazil is increasing by around 60,000 boe per day to roughly 100,000 boe per day.
"This acquisition of the share in Roncador field is a key element in the building of Brazil as a core area for Equinor," said Veronica Rezende Coelho, head of Partner-operated Licenses & Area Development in the business area Development and Production Brazil. "With these new shuttle tankers, we are securing value creation along the whole value chain from production to market."