FloaTEC Singapore, an equal joint venture between Keppel FELS (Keppel FELS) and J. Ray McDermott, has won a contract worth about US$1 billion ($1.4 billion) with the Papa-Terra Joint Venture, consisting of Petrobras and Chevron, to build and operate the P-61 Tension Leg Wellhead Platform (TLWP).

The project scope — comprising design, engineering, construction, maintenance and installation work, as well as a three-year contract to operate the TLWP — will be jointly undertaken by Keppel FELS and J. Ray. Keppel FELS and J. Ray will also enlist the expertise of their US-based joint venture company, FloaTEC LLC, to perform global engineering and basic design work, as well as manage the supply of risers, well systems and tendon components for P-61.

Designated for Brazil’s Papa-Terra field in the Campos Basin, the P-61 TLWP will work alongside the P-63 Floating Production Storage Offloading vessel to handle up to 180,000 barrels of oil per day. P-61 will be built at Keppel’s BrasFELS yard in Angra dos Reis, fulfilling local content requirements, while its critical components such as the tendons, temporary buoyancy modules and piles will be fabricated at J. Ray’s Morgan City facility in Louisiana, USA. Targeted for completion by mid-2013, P- 61 will be installed on location in the Papa-Terra field by J. Ray.

Papa-Terra is a heavy oilfield project located at the Exploratory Block BC-20 in Brazil's most important oil-producing region in the Campos Basin. The offshore field is located in a water depth of 1,180 metres. Jointly owned by operator Petrobras (62.5%) and US-based international oil company Chevron (37.5%), the Papa-Terra field is expected to achieve first oil by mid-2013, and bring Brazil closer to its goal of becoming a net oil exporter.