RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda. (Shell Brasil), a subsidiary of Shell plc, announces the start of production of the FPSO Sepetiba in the Mero field, offshore Santos Basin in Brazil. The FPSO Sepetiba, also known as Mero-2, has an operational capacity of 12 million cubic meters of natural gas and 180,000 barrels of oil per day and is connected to six production and six injector wells to the field, in the first wave. Technology applied in the construction and operation of the FPSO will increase production efficiency and contribute to emissions reductions.

"The FPSO Sepetiba development leverages our world-class partnership with Petrobras and reinforces our presence in one of the most productive fields in Brazil," said Zo? Yujnovich, Shell's Integrated Gas and Upstream Director. "This project aligns with Shell's Powering Progress strategy and our commitment to leverage increasingly efficient and competitive developments in our heartlands to provide safe, secure energy supplies today and for decades to come."

The FPSO Sepetiba is located 180 kilometres from the coast of Rio de Janeiro in a water depth of 2,050 meters. Its predecessor, the FPSO Guanabara, also known as Mero-1, announced first production in April of 2022.  The consortium plans to receive two more FPSOs by the middle of the decade.  Shell's world-leading Deep Water business comprises two prolific basins in the US and Brazil and an exciting exploration portfolio, with a sustained track record of strong cash generation and operational performance.

Notes to editors

• Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda. is a subsidiary of Shell plc.

• Final Investment Decision (FID) on Mero-2 was announced in 2019.

• The Mero field is part of the Libra Production Sharing Contract (PSC), signed in Dec 2013. Libra is located in the Santos basin, 150-180 km south of Rio de Janeiro in 1900-2100m of water depth.

• SBM Offshore is responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, mobilization, installation, and operation of FPSO Sepetiba, including topsides processing equipment as well as hull and marine systems.

• Shell Brasil holds a 19.3 percent stake in Mero Unitized Field, along with Petrobras (operator), with a 38.6 percent stake, TotalEnergies (19.3 percent), CNPC (9.65 percent), CNOOC (9.65 percent), and PPSA (3.5 percent), representing the Government in the non-contracted area.

Cautionary note

The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement, "Shell", "Shell Group" and "Group" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as "joint ventures" and "joint operations", respectively. "Joint ventures" and "joint operations" are collectively referred to as "joint arrangements".  Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

Forward-Looking Statements

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Shell's net carbon intensity

Also, in this announcement we may refer to Shell's "Net Carbon Intensity", which includes Shell's carbon emissions from the production of our energy products, our suppliers' carbon emissions in supplying energy for that production and our customers' carbon emissions associated with their use of the energy products we sell. Shell only controls its own emissions. The use of the term Shell's "Net Carbon Intensity" is for convenience only and not intended to suggest these emissions are those of Shell plc or its subsidiaries.

Shell's net-Zero Emissions Target

Shell's operating plan, outlook and budgets are forecasted for a ten-year period and are updated every year.  They reflect the current economic environment and what we can reasonably expect to see over the next ten years. Accordingly, they reflect our Scope 1, Scope 2 and Net Carbon Intensity (NCI) targets over the next ten years.  However, Shell's operating plans cannot reflect our 2050 net-zero emissions target and 2035 NCI target, as these targets are currently outside our planning period. In the future, as society moves towards net-zero emissions, we expect Shell's operating plans to reflect this movement. However, if society is not net zero in 2050, as of today, there would be significant risk that Shell may not meet this target.

Forward Looking Non-GAAP measures

This announcement may contain certain forward-looking non-GAAP measures such as [cash capital expenditure] and [divestments]. We are unable to provide a reconciliation of these forward-looking Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures because certain information needed to reconcile those Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is dependent on future events some of which are outside the control of Shell, such as oil and gas prices, interest rates and exchange rates. Moreover, estimating such GAAP measures with the required precision necessary to provide a meaningful reconciliation is extremely difficult and could not be accomplished without unreasonable effort. Non-GAAP measures in respect of future periods which cannot be reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measure are calculated in a manner which is consistent with the accounting policies applied in Shell plc's consolidated financial statements.

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SOURCE Shell