Yinson buying FPSO destined for oil field off Brazil

Brazilian oil and gas player Enauta has received a letter from Singapore-based Yinson Production, the offshore energy business of the Malaysian Yinson Group, notifying about the exercise of an option to acquire an FPSO, which will operate at its oil field offshore Brazil. This action starts the charter agreement for the FPSO.

According to Enauta, Yinson’s acquisition of the FPSO Atlanta will be done through the purchase of all the shares of AFPS, which owns the vessel. The Brazilian firm sees the exercise of the option as “an important milestone” in de-risking the full development of the Atlanta field, confirming the near completion stage of the FPSO Atlanta, in-line with its schedule and budget.

In addition, the option exercise implies a reduction in Enauta’s net investment in the FPSO through the completion of approximately $100 million. Yinson’s acquisition of this FPSO reflects a value of $465 million for AFPS, of which $86 million are paid in cash and EPCI deferred payments and $379 million in 15-year financing granted to Yinson.

Enauta confirms that the option exercise initiates the 15-year charter, operation, and maintenance agreements for the FPSO, with a possible five-year extension. This contract reflects a total value of $2 billion for 20 years counted from the vessel’s start of production.

Back in January 2022, Enauta entered into an agreement to purchase the FPSO OSX-2 for the Definitive System (DS) of the Atlanta field and this purchase deal was closed the following month. This vessel was converted in 2013 under ABS Class to operate in the Waimea field in Brazil but it never started operations.

The Brazilian player inked a firm contract with Yinson for the conversion of the existing production unit, so that the FPSO would be used for Atlanta’s Full Development System (FDS) – approved in February 2022 – under the same terms as specified within the Letter of Intent (LoI) from December 2021.

In May 2022, Yinson hired Drydocks World Dubai for the conversion, life extension services, and refurbishment of the FPSO Atlanta. The upgraded FPSO is expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2023 to Enauta. After the conversion, the FPSO will be operated under ABS Class and it will be deployed at the Atlanta field.

Moreover, the FPSO is anticipated to be fully operational by mid-2024 with six production wells. The FPSO Atlanta has the capacity to process 50,000 barrels of oil per day, 140,000 barrels of water per day, 20 MW of power generation, and 1.6 million barrels of oil in inventory capacity.

The Atlanta field has been producing since 2018 through an Early Production System (EPS), encompassing three wells connected to the FPSO Petrojarl I. Following recent recertification, this FPSO is expected to continue operating on the field until the entry of the Full Development System in 2024 with six wells, reaching ten wells in 2029.

Located in block BS-4 in the Santos Basin, at a 1,500-metre water depth, the Atlanta field is operated by Enauta Energia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, which also has a 100 per cent interest in this asset.