MODEC announced today that Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) has signed a letter of intent for the supply, charter and operations of a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel. The contract is a 12 year lease with three one-year options.

MODEC is responsible for the engineering, procurement, construction, mobilization and operations for the FPSO, including topsides processing equipment, hull and marine system. SOFEC will provide the spread mooring.

The plan is to convert the VLCC FSO Bateau. The FPSO will be capable of processing 350 million cubic feet per day of gas, 25,000 barrels of oil per day, and having a storage capacity of approximately 700,000 barrels. The FPSO is planned to arrive in Brazil in the 4th quarter, 2009 and will be installed in 1,300 meters water depth approximately 160 kilometers from Rio de Janeiro city.

This is the fifth vessel MODEC will provide and operate in Brazil. It is the first FPSO that will process more gas than oil. MODEC is currently operating the FPSO Fluminense and FPSO Cidade do Rio de Janeiro MV14 and the FSO Cidade de Macae MV15. The FPSO Cidade de Niteroi MV18 is under construction and is scheduled to be installed in the fourth quarter of 2008.

"This FPSO is on a rather fast track," says Kenji Yamada, President and CEO of MODEC. "We are proud of the confidence Petrobras obviously has in MODEC. We will deliver a quality FPSO on time and on budget."

The FPSO, named FPSO Cidade de Santos MV20, will be deployed in the Urugua field and will also gather production from the Tambau field. Both fields are in the Santos Basin and are being developed together. The fields are expected to include 12 wells that will begin operation in January, 2010. The natural gas processed in the FPSO Cidade de Santos MV20 will be delivered through an 18 inch gas pipeline to the Mexilhão field 170 kilometers from Urugua.