Petrobras has started oil production from the P-78 floating production, storage, and offloading unit (FPSO) at the Búzios field in the pre-salt Santos Basin. The P-78 FPSO is capable of producing 180,000 barrels of oil and 7.2 million cubic meters of gas per day. With this addition, the total installed production capacity at Búzios rises to approximately 1.15 million barrels of oil daily. The project will also enable gas exports to the mainland through a connection with the ROTA 3 pipeline, potentially increasing Brazil’s gas supply by up to 3 million cubic meters per day.
“With the first oil from P-78, we are starting the year already advancing on our main goal for 2026: increasing Petrobras’ oil and gas production. We plan to produce 2.5 million barrels of oil per day throughout this year, and a large part will come from Búzios, the country’s largest field in reserves and production. In addition, we are also expanding the supply of natural gas to the Brazilian market, another goal expressed in our Business Plan,” said Magda Chambriard, president of Petrobras.
The P-78 is an FPSO unit that marks a new series of proprietary projects for Petrobras. It was designed using PBRef (Basic Reference Project), which incorporated lessons learned from earlier pre-salt units to improve safety and reliability. The platform’s construction followed new strategies under the PROFORT program, setting technical quality standards for shipyards beyond local content requirements; at least 25% local content was stipulated in its contract. Ten out of twenty-three topside modules were built at BrasFELS shipyard in Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro.
The platform features technologies aimed at reducing emissions and improving operational efficiency, such as flare gas recovery systems and variable speed pumps and compressors.
Thirteen wells—six producers and seven injectors—are equipped with intelligent completion systems to optimize production management. The unit is connected via rigid pipelines for production, injection, and gas export as well as flexible service lines using innovative anchoring technologies.
Measuring 345 meters long and reaching 180 meters high to the top of its flare stack, P-78 arrived in Brazil from Singapore in October with commissioning teams onboard. This approach eliminated the need for stops in sheltered waters within Brazil and allowed commissioning work during transit.
P-78 is now the seventh platform operating at Búzios field. In October 2025, Búzios surpassed one million barrels per day in output. Discovered in 2010 by well 2-ANP-1-RJS, it lies about 180 kilometers off Rio de Janeiro’s coast in ultra-deep waters over two thousand meters deep.
