Subsea Integration Alliance, a partnership between Subsea 7 and Schlumberger's OneSubsea, has officially received the contract for the delivery of subsea equipment and flowlines for Equinor's recently sanctioned Bacalhau field development offshore Brazil.

Following the final investment decision on Tuesday for the development of the field located in the Santos Basin off Brazil, Subsea 7 had issued a statement saying that Subsea Integration Alliance was anticipating final confirmation of a major contract award by Equinor 'in the near future."

The 'near future' came a day later as the company on Wednesday confirmed the contract award, under which Subsea Integration Alliance will be responsible for the delivery and installation of the subsea pipelines (SURF) and production systems (SPS).

The Bacalhau development will include a Modec-supplied FPSO, with 140 kilometers of rigid risers and flowlines, 40 kilometers of umbilical, and 19 trees, as well as associated subsea equipment, in water depths of approximately 2050 meters.

"The Subsea Integration Alliance team established during the initial front-end engineering design phase, awarded in January 2020, will now transition into the full EPCI phase. Project management and detailed engineering will take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with support from Subsea 7’s Global Project Centre in UK and France and various OneSubsea offices," Subsea 7 said.

Offshore activities will take place from 2022 to 2023 using Subsea 7’s reel-lay, flex-lay and light construction vessels, the company added.

"Bacalhau is Brazil’s first integrated SURF and SPS project. The award today is a significant endorsement of Subsea Integration Alliance’s strong position within the integrated market, Subsea 7’s long-established local presence in Brazil and the Group’s commitment to support Equinor’s strategy of long-term growth in the region," Subsea 7 said.

Subsea 7 said Tuesday the contract would be a major one. Subsea 7 defines a major contract as being one where Subsea 7’s share of revenue is over USD 750 million.

The whole Bacalhau development will cost around $8 billion to bring online.

The Bacalhau field spreads across two licenses, BM-S-8 and Norte de Carcará. The FPSO at the field will be one of the largest FPSOs in Brazil with a production capacity of 220,000 barrels per day and two million barrels in storage capacity. The stabilized oil will be offloaded to shuttle tankers and the gas from Phase 1 will be re-injected in the reservoir.

First oil production is planned for 2024.

The FPSO contractor MODEC will operate the FPSO for the first year. After that, Equinor plans to operate the facilities until the end of the license period.

Partners in Bacalhau are Equinor 40% (operator), ExxonMobil 40%, Petrogal Brasil 20% and Pré-sal Petróleo SA (Government Company, PSA Manager).