Lisbon, Oct. 16, 2025 (Lusa) - Portuguese oil and energy group, Galp, announced on Thursday the start of operations for the Bacalhau project in Brazil, developed in partnership with Equinor, ExxonMobil and Pré-sal Petróleo, which will increase its total oil production by 30%.
"In a field with estimated recoverable reserves of over one billion barrels, the FPSO [floating production, storage and offloading vessel] Bacalhau will contribute around 40,000 barrels of oil per day to Galp's total production when the unit reaches plateau [stagnation], representing an increase of more than 30% over Galp's current production, making the company the fifth largest oil and gas producer in Brazil," the company announced in a statement.
Norway's Equinor is the lead partner in the Bacalhau project in the Brazilian pre-salt Santos Basin, with 40% (operator), alongside ExxonMobil, which also holds 40%, while Galp holds 20% of the project through Petrogal Brasil, a joint venture with Sinopec (Galp 70% Sinopec 30%), with Pré-Sal Petróleo SA also being a partner.
This is Galp's 13th unit deployed in the Brazilian pre-salt since 2010, a vessel 370 metres long and 64 metres wide, located 185 kilometres (km) off the coast of Ilhabela (São Paulo), in ultra-deep waters with a water depth of over 2,000 metres.
According to the company, this project will create around 50,000 jobs over its 30-year lifetime, of which 3,000 were created during the development phase.
"Bacalhau also shows our determination to carry out projects of high added value for the company, its shareholders and Brazil," said Galp Brasil's executive president, Paula Pereira da Silva, quoted in the same note.
In June 2021, Galp announced in a statement sent to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission (CMVM) that it was part of the consortium that would invest US$8 billion (€6.54 billion) in the development of phase 1 of the Bacalhau oil field, "a high-quality carbonate reservoir containing light oil with minimal contaminants," and whose "first oil" was "planned for 2024."
"This will be one of the largest FPSOs in Brazil, with a production capacity of 220,000 barrels per day and two million barrels of storage," Galp pointed out at the time, detailing that "significant efforts had been made to reduce emissions from the production phase, including the implementation of a combined cycle gas turbine system to increase the plant's energy efficiency," which "provides efficient electricity production and flexible heat supply."
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