Vessel platform Cidade de Ilhabela, deployed in the Sapinhoá field, in the Santos Basin pre-salt cluster, went into operation Thursday (Nov. 20). The new unit is part of the set of production projects scheduled for this year under our 2014-2018 Business and Management Plan.

Cidade de Ilhabela is an FPSO (a floating oil production, storage, and offloading unit). The unit was hired form the QGOG/SBM consortium on March 30, 2012, and its hull was converted from an oil tanker at the CXG shipyard, in China. The process plant modules were integrated at the Brasa shipyard, in Niterói (RJ).

The vessel platform was anchored at a site where water depth is 2,140 meters, towards the coast of São Paulo, at about 310 km from the coast. The platform will be capable of producing up to 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), of compressing up to 6 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, and of storing 1.6 million barrels of oil. Moreover, its injection capacity is 180,000 barrels of water per day. Well 3-SPS-69, the first in operation, has the potential of producing 32,000 bpd. The oil produced at the Sapinhoá field is of excellent quality - averaging 290 API - and will be transported by shuttle tankers.

The portion of the gas that is not reinjected into the field will be offloaded over the Sapinhoá-Lula-Mexilhão pipeline to the Monteiro Lobato Gas Treatment Unit (UTGCA), in Caraguatatuba, on the coast of São Paulo. Nine production and seven injection wells will be connected to Cidade de Ilhabela. The platform is expected to reach its full production rate in the second half of 2015.

Local content estimated for the development of the Sapinhoá field is upwards of 55%, above the minimum local content established by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) of 30%. Thirteen of the FPSO's 18 process plant modules were built in Brazil: three at EBSE-Nuclep, in Itaguaí (RJ), and ten at the Brasa shipyard, in Niterói (RJ).

Production started at the Sapinhoá field in January 2013, with the interconnection of the 1-SPS-55 to FPSO Cidade de São Paulo (Sapinhoá Pilot), with capacity to produce up to 120,000 bpd.

We operate the Sapinhoá field (45%) in partnership with BG EΠBrasil Ltda (30%) and Repsol Sinopec S.A. (25%).

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.