Japanese Banks Provide Financing for Brazilian FPSO

The Japan Bank for International Cooperation signed a loan agreement in the aggregate amount of up to 702 million U.S. dollars (JBIC portion) with Cernambi Norte MV26 B.V. (CMV26), a company incorporated in the Netherlands in which MODEC, Inc., Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd., and Marubeni Corporation have equity stakes.

The loan, provided as project financing, will support a project in which a long-term FPSO system chartering service will be offered by CMV26 to Tupi B.V., a consortium which has a concession in the Iracema Norte area of a pre-salt oil field off the coast of Brazil, and was formed in the Netherlands by Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras), a state-owned oil company in Brazil, and others. The loan is cofinanced with The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd. (lead arranger), Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd., Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited and Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation. The total cofinancing amount is 1,170 million U.S. dollars.

In this project, MODEC will build an ultra-deep FPSO unit capable of operating 2,000 to 3,000 meters underwater and with the capacity to produce up to 150 thousand barrels of crude oil and 280 million cubic feet of gas per day, and store about 1,600 thousand barrels of crude oil. CMV26 and a joint venture which is established mainly by an affiliated company of MODEC in Brazil will provide charter services (leasing and operation and maintenance services) to Tupi B.V. for 20 years. The FPSO vessel will be deployed for developing the Iracema Norte area.

As oil companies in a number of countries have been actively developing offshore oil fields in recent years, they foresee an increasing need for new FPSO systems, primarily in Latin America (namely Brazil) and the Western African region. In particular, a series of world-class oil and gas reserves has been discovered beneath the geological formation of pre-salt layers of Brazilian offshore waters and have attracted worldwide attention to huge deposits consisting mainly of medium-gravity and light oil. This is the 4th FPSO Operation Project by MODEC for an oil field of pre-salt layers, following Lula field (former Tupi field), Guara field, and Cernambi South field.