On 2 January 2026, Seatrium Limited (“Seatrium” or the “Group”) announced that PETROBRAS 78 (“P-78”) has achieved First Oil production on 31 December 2025, marking Seatrium’s successful expansion of its end-to-end EPCC capabilities to include offshore commissioning for Floating Production Storage and Offloading (“FPSO”) vessels.
Awarded in 2021, P-78 is the first in a series of six P-Series FPSOs that Seatrium is building for Brazil’s national oil company, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. (“Petrobras”). This significant and timely milestone also marks the final phase of offshore commissioning works leading to Final Acceptance of the vessel by the customer. The FPSO P-78 marks the 37th FPSO project delivered by Seatrium to Petrobras.
Mr Marlin Khiew, Executive Vice President of Seatrium Energy (Americas), said, “This is a proud moment for Seatrium – the P-78 achieved First Oil in record time, a testament to the agility of our One Seatrium Global Delivery Model and our ability to evolve alongside our customers’ needs to consistently deliver complex, high-quality vessels safely and efficiently. This would not have been possible without the continued trust and partnership from Petrobras, as we take the experience and learnings from P-78 to complete our five remaining P-Series FPSO projects, each showcasing innovative sustainability features to support Petrobras’ decarbonisation journey.”
Seatrium leveraged its One Seatrium Global Delivery Model in building the P-78, across the Group’s presence in Brazil, China and Singapore. The FPSO was towed safely and efficiently to arrive at the Búzios field with all major marine and production systems fully operational, enabling rapid offshore start-up and First Oil readiness.
Located in the Santos Basin, about 180 to 230 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the prolific Búzios field where P-78 is deployed is amongst the world’s largest deepwater fields. Permanently moored at a water depth of around 2,100 meters using a spread mooring system, the P-78 is one of the largest FPSOs ever delivered to Brazil. The facility is designed to produce up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day and 7.2 million cubic metres of gas per day. It also boasts a minimum crude oil storage capacity of 2 million barrels.
The P-Series FPSOs will incorporate green technologies including Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) to separate carbon and reinject it into the reservoir for safe storage, thus minimising the need for gas flaring. The vessels will also feature energy recovery systems for thermal energy, waste heat and gas, as well as seawater deaeration to lower fuel consumption and carbon emissions.
Seatrium has amassed a strong track record in delivering critical projects for Brazil and Petrobras. These include FPSOs, Floating Production Units (FPU), Floating Storage Regasification Units (FSRU), drilling rigs, and accommodation vessels – contributing to Brazil’s robust energy infrastructure.
Through the six P-Series FPSO projects Seatrium is building (the P-78, P-80, P-82, P-83, P-84 and P-85), Brazil will gain another 1.305 million barrels of oil per day of production capacity. Beyond this, the expansion is also expected to create over 60,000 jobs in the communities in which Seatrium’s Brazilian yards operate in. By executing a substantial portion of the work in Brazilian shipyards, Seatrium is making contributions towards local content development, workforce training, and long-term skills enhancement.