Three people familiar with the matter said that Brazil's state oil company Petrobras obtained environmental permits to expand production at two offshore fields and one vessel could start earlier than expected.

Petrobras can now increase production at the Mero and Buzios oil fields. Buzios will benefit from the early launch of the FPSO vessel Almirante Tamandare (floating production, storage and offloading). The fields are located in the Santos Basin of the Atlantic Ocean.

Petrobras and Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama didn't immediately comment on these licenses. Petrobras stated that the FPSO will still start production in 2025.

The licenses were obtained despite a strike that is ongoing at Ibama, which has caused a slowdown in the issuance of permits for this year.

These two permits will add around 36,000 barrels per days (bpds) to the production of Brazil, 46,000 Mero and 20,000 Buzios. The sources said that this would add 36,000 bpd of production to Petrobras, and the rest to partners, as well as the state-run company PPSA.

Sources said that the FPSO Almirante Tamandare could begin production in this year. It is expected to arrive on Brazilian soil in October. The vessel's capacity is 225,000 bpd.

Petrobras' strategic plan expects it to produce 2.8 millions barrels of oil-equivalent per day (boepd), with a possible variation of up to 4%.

Petrobras produced an average of 2.7 millions boepd per day between April and the end of June. This is a 2.4% increase compared to 2023. (Reporting and writing by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; editing by Rod Nickel).

(source: Reuters)