Two large shipyards aim at Petrobras own P-80 FPSO contract

(PetroleoHoje) The dispute over the contract for the P-80, Petrobras&rsquo own FPSO that will make up the 9th module of Buzios, in the Santos cluster, should be restricted to two large international groups. After successive postponements and a long period of lack of interest, the Sembcorp and Keppel shipyards began to work to present a proposal in the bid, requesting quotes from suppliers.

The movement of the Sembcorp and Keppel shipyards in relation to the P-80 tender began to gain strength at the beginning of the year. Until 2021, there were no signs of interest from the two shipyards or other groups.

Keppel recently won, in a consortium with Hyundai, a contract with Petrobras for the construction of the P-78, a 180,000 bpd FPSO, which will be installed in the 7th module of Buzios, in 2025.

The lack of initial market interest in the P-80 tender put Petrobras on alert. In addition to carrying out consecutive postponements of the date of delivery of proposals, the oil company worked behind the scenes to try to increase the interest of shipyards in the business, changing some guidelines of the contract and the public notice.

The contract conditions originally established by Petrobras were considered very strict by the companies. Among the adjustments made, the oil company chose to improve payment terms, reducing the negative cash flow for the company that wins the contract.

The delivery of bid proposals is scheduled for May 16, one year after the public notice was launched. In the last postponement of the schedule, the deadline for delivery of offers was extended by six months.