Italian oilfield services company Saipem has been awarded an engineering contract worth around 25 million euros to build a possible Floating Production Storage and Offloading unit owned by British major Shell off the coast of Brazil, Italy's foreign ministry said on Monday.
If Shell decides to go ahead with the FPSO's construction, Saipem in partnership with some Brazilian companies, will be responsible for its engineering, procurement, construction, and installation activities, the statement said.
The FPSO would be used to exploit the 'Gato do Mato' oil and gas field, which is located at a depth of approximately 2,000 metres in the Santos Basin - currently Brazil's main source of oil and gas.
The Santos Basin lies approximately 300 kilometres off the coast of the city of Santos (in Brazil's Sao Paulo state) and covers an area of over 350,000 square km, according to the statement.