Prysmian Group, a leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has been awarded a contract by Libra, a consortium of prime international oil and gas operators, for steel tube umbilicals to be installed in the Mero offshore oilfield.

The Libra Consortium is led by Petrobras – with a 40 per cent interest – in partnership with Shell Brasil (20 per cent), Total (20 per cent), CNPC (10 per cent) and CNOOC (10 per cent). The consortium also has the participation of the state-owned company Pré-Sal Petróleo SA (PPSA) as manager of the Production Sharing Agreement.

More specifically the award refers to Mero 1, an ultra-deep-water project, which will consist of up to 17 wells and one FPSO, situated approximately 180 km offshore Rio de Janeiro in the pre-salt area of the Santos basin at a water depth of approximately 2,000 m below sea level with oil production due to commence in 2021.

The Mero 1 project is a milestone in the technological development of the oil and gas industry in Brazil, as it is the first project in the region to use steel tube umbilicals. The contract includes the supply of approximately 60 km of steel tube umbilicals consisting of 9 and 12 functions 1/2-inch diameter 10kpsi super duplex steel tubes that will be manufactured in the Group’s production unit in Vila Velha.

The award follows a successful delivery in the Well Services segment. The Group has engineered, manufactured and testes in its Excellence Centre in Vila Velha a high-end supply of Drilling Pipe Riser System (DPRS) for workover operations consisting of three types of umbilicals (Open Sea, TH Mode and Annular).

This marks the transition of the Group from the traditional Thermoplastic technology used so far and are the result of its experience in end-to-end production of deep water subsea umbilicals, manufacturing and testing assets, qualified resources and design capabilities to deliver best-in-class solutions for deep water conditions and well service operations.