Total Energy announced that it has made an investment decision with its partners for the fourth phase of the Mero project (Libra block), which is located 180 kilometers deep off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, in the prolific subsalt area of the Santos Basin.

The Mero 4 Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit is scheduled to be put into use in 2025. Mero 4 has the same daily processing capacity of FPSO as Mero 1 (expected to start production in 2022), Mero 2 (expected to start production in 2023) and Mero 3 (expected to start production in 2024), both of which are 180,000 barrels per day. Arnod Breuillac, President of Total Exploration and Production, said that the decision to start Mero 4 marked the last milestone in the large-scale development of Mero oil resources.

The Mero subsalt oil field is one of the most prestigious oil exploration projects in South America and has huge oil production potential. The Santos Basin where it is located is Brazil's largest offshore basin. It is located in the sea area of southeastern Brazil. It covers an area of about 327,000 square kilometers. The water depth ranges from shallow water to 3,200 meters. It is a typical passive continental margin basin and has excellent petroleum geological conditions. In recent years, the basin has successively discovered a number of large oil and gas fields in the subsalt lake carbonate field in the deep water area, which is one of the hot spots in the exploration and research of oil and gas basins in the world.

In recent years, major international oil companies have entered Brazil's subsalt oilfield development. It is precisely because of the great significance of the rich recoverable reserves of Brazil's deep sea subsalt oilfields for the medium and long-term sustainable development of oil companies. For example, Total Energy, according to the company's website, its investment portfolio in Brazil includes 12 blocks. In 2020, Total Energy's average equity oil production in Brazil is 35,000 barrels per day.

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Since 2017, the Mero oilfield has been in pre-production, with the pioneior de Libra FPSO with a daily output of 50,000 barrels. The Mero oil field is managed by the Libra consortium, which is led by Petroleo Brasileiro S/A and holds a 40% interest, and Total Energy holds a 20% interest.Editor/XuNing