Mero-3 FPSO achieves first oil in Brazil pre-salt region, Shell announces

Shell Brasil, a subsidiary of Shell plc, announced the start of production of the FPSO facility Marechal Duque de Caxias in the Mero field, in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil. Also known as Mero-3, the FPSO has an operational capacity of 180,000 bopd (Shell share 19.3%).

“Mero-3 demonstrates our commitment to increasingly efficient and competitive projects,” said Zoë Yujnovich, Shell’s Integrated Gas and Upstream Director. “Brazil is a material contributor to Shell’s deepwater oil and gas production, and through our ongoing partnership with Petrobras in the Mero field, we can help continue to deliver safe and secure energy from one of the country’s most productive fields.”

The FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias is located 200 km from the coast of Rio de Janeiro in a water depth of 2,200 m. Its predecessor, the FPSO Sepetiba (Mero-2), announced first production in December 2023. The FPSO Guanabara (Mero-1) started production in May 2022.

The Mero field is part of the Libra Production Sharing Contract (PSC), signed in December 2013. The three FPSOs now online, along with the Early Production System (EPS), represent a total installed production capacity of 590,000 boed.

Shell Brasil holds a 19.3 percent stake in the Mero Unitized Field, along with other members of the Libra Consortium: Petrobras (38.6 percent - operator), TotalEnergies (19.3 percent), CNPC (9.65 percent), CNOOC (9.65 percent), and PPSA (3.5 percent) representing the Government in the non-contracted area.