By Rodrigo Viga Gaier
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petrobras is considering cancelling a tender to charter a production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) from India’s Shapoorji Pallonji Energy, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
The state-run firm believes the bid by the Indian shipbuilding firm was too high, at $1.5 million per day, and also complained the FPSO would not have enough of its parts built in Brazil, said the sources.
A final decision on the matter is set to be taken soon, according to one of the people.
Petrobras said the bidding process is “still ongoing,” without making any further comments. Shapoorji Pallonji Energy did not immediately reply to a request for comment outside working hours.
The Shapoorji vessel would have the capacity to produce up to 100,000 barrels of oil per day and 6 million cubic meters of gas. The process of contracting it has been ongoing since August 2023.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has made bolstering the country’s shipbuilding sector a priority and as part of that Petrobras has been focusing on using more local ships for its operations and creating local jobs.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; Writing by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Gabriel Araujo and Susan Fenton)
