The first gas injection on Petrobras’ P-78 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit has been achieved just 61 days after the vessel reached first oil on December 31, 2025.
The milestone, achieved on March 2, 2026, marks the transition of the vessel toward full operational readiness and expands production capability at the Búzios field offshore Brazil.
Seatrium carried out a wide scope of work on the project, including topsides fabrication, integration and commissioning across its own and partner shipyards in Singapore, Brazil, China and South Korea.
“Achieving First Gas Injection in record time for one of the largest FPSOs in the world is a proud and defining moment for Seatrium. It underscores the strength of our engineering capabilities, the discipline of our global execution teams, and the deep expertise we have built over decades delivering complex offshore energy assets for some of the world’s leading energy players.
“The Búzios field is one of the world’s most productive deepwater assets, and this milestone reinforces our value proposition as Petrobras’ key EPCC partner for Brazil’s pre-salt basin that is amongst the largest offshore energy developments globally,” said Marlin Khiew, Executive Vice President of Seatrium Energy (Projects) and President, LATAM.
Located in the Santos Basin about 180–230 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, the Búzios field is one of the world’s largest deepwater oil fields. The P-78 FPSO is permanently moored at a water depth of approximately 2,100 meters using a spread-mooring system.
The facility is designed to produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day and 7.2 million cubic meters of gas per day, with a minimum storage capacity of two million barrels of crude oil.
Seatrium said the project relied on coordination across its global supply chain to ensure readiness of key systems, including process, export and gas injection compressors required for the introduction of gas injection operations.
With gas injection underway, Seatrium said it is now focused on completing the delivery phase and securing final acceptance of the vessel by Petrobras.
The P-78 is part of a broader series of six FPSOs being built by Seatrium for Petrobras’ pre-salt developments - P-78, P-80, P-82, P-83, P-84 and P-85 - which together are expected to add about 1.305 million barrels per day of production capacity.
Seatrium said the projects are also expected to create more than 60,000 jobs in communities where its Brazilian shipyards operate, as a significant portion of the work is carried out locally.
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