Petrobras FPSO P-79 Faces 40 Compliance Issues Delaying Start-up in Búzios Pre-Salt Field

The Brazilian regulatory agency ANP’s Operational Safety Superintendent conducted a safety management system compliance inspection on Petrobras’s P-79 FPSO in late October 2025. The vessel, assembled in South Korea with topside modules sourced from multiple countries, arrived at the Búzios field in early February 2026 but cannot commence operations until all regulatory criteria are met. The inspection identified 46 conditions mainly concerning commissioning and first oil start-up procedures. Petrobras has since addressed six of these issues; 40 remain outstanding. These include demonstrating barrier availability for risk scenarios, completing comprehensive team training on operational safety protocols, and verifying fire and gas detection system functionality.

P-79 is engineered for a production capacity of 180,000 barrels of crude oil per day and daily compression of 7.2 million cubic meters of gas. It forms part of the Búzios 8 development project, which comprises 14 wells—eight producers and six using the WAG (water-alternating-gas) injection method to optimize recovery. The start-up is targeted for August 2026, and when operational, the platform is expected to increase Búzios’s production capacity by approximately 15.6%, pushing the field’s output beyond 1.3 million barrels daily.

Petrobras maintains that the current number of regulatory conditions is consistent with its historical project experiences and that it remains committed to resolving all pending issues to ensure safe operations aligned with its environmental and personnel integrity mandates. The ANP’s detailed scrutiny reflects a regulatory environment focused on operational risk mitigation as Petrobras expands its offshore production assets. Meanwhile, Petrobras prepares for personnel renewals through its 2026 recruitment plans amid broader sector workforce changes.

Market observers note that the P-79 operational delay could modestly impact short-term output growth projections but aligns with Petrobras’s cautious approach to regulatory compliance in a mature oil-producing jurisdiction.