Axa Engenharia Submarina Ltda. (AXA), a subsidiary of DeepOcean Group Holding BV (DeepOcean), announces that it has been awarded a contract for the provision of geo-hazard surveys on the Libra Field from Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. led consortia, consisting of Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda., Total E&P do Brasil Ltda., CNODC Brasil Petróleo e Gás Ltda. and CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda.

The contract is for the provision of geo-hazard survey on a seafloor area of 1640 km2 in the Libra field.

Libra field is located in a water depth of approximately 2000 meters in the Santos Basin, about 230 kilometres of the coast of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Surveys will be performed with a 3000 meter rated Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). The AUV is capable of delivering high resolution high quality HISAS bathymetry and side scan sonar data for Sub Bottom Profiling (SBP) at high speeds. The AUV operations are launched and supported by the survey support vessel MV Tau on charter with DeepOcean. The contract will commence as soon as current AUV commitments have been completed.

“The combination of DeepOcean’s impressive track record of more than 60 000 km of high specification pipeline inspections and route surveys and AXA employees’ long term experience in AUV based seabed mapping services is compelling. Winning this contract on Libra is a great recognition of our services on this strategically important project to our valued clients in Brazil.” says the experienced Donizeti Carneiro, Commercial Manager of AXA.

“This is the second AUV based survey contract DeepOcean and AXA have been awarded recently in Brazil, and supports our strategic investments in AUVs to add to our extensive range of global ROV based subsea survey and pipeline inspection services. This contract will be executed from our office in Brazil” says Mads Bårdsen, DeepOcean’s EVP International.

About Deepocean

DeepOcean is an integrated provider of safe, high quality, innovative services and technologies for the subsea industry. Demonstrating an extensive track record, DeepOcean offers a breadth of subsea services including Survey and Seabed-mapping, Subsea Installation, Seabed Intervention, Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR), and Decommissioning.

About Petrobras

We have upwards of 100 production platforms, 16 refineries, 30,000 kilometers of pipelines and more than 6,000 service stations. Our proved reserves are around 14 billion barrels of oil, a figure expected to double in the next few years. With the discovery of oil and gas in the pre-salt region, Brazil may become the world's fourth biggest oil producer in 2030.

We have built a track record of overcoming challenges since 1953, when the company was created. The main one was developing technology to explore and produce oil in deep and ultra-deep waters, where upwards of 90% of our reserves are nestled. With innovation and daringness, we are now the Brazilian company that makes the applies for the most patents in Brazil and abroad.