Brazilian regulator halts production from Peregrino FPSO

Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) has ordered production on Peregrino FPSO to be halted due to “risk management, assessment documentation and adjustments to the deluge system”, according to PRIO.

The Brazilian independent oil company said Equinor, as operator of the floating production storage and offloading platform (FPSO), was “aiming to meet the requirements as swiftly and accurately as possible”.

Equinor, operator of the Peregrino field, said in an emailed statement to Riviera that it had been notified on 15 August by the ANP about an interdiction of the Peregrino FPSO’s operations and order to stop production following an audit of the platform’s operational security management system (SGSO).

"The audit highlighted improvement areas related to the management practises recognised in the SGSO," Equinor said. "Equinor’s top priority is safety in its operations. The company is strictly following the requirements of the authorities and addressing ANP’s findings. Equinor promptly started working on the necessary actions with the goal of meeting the authorities´ requirements and resuming production at the field as efficiently and rapidly as possible."

Peregrino FPSO is operated by Equinor do Brasil Ltda, and its consortium partner, PRIO, is in the process of acquiring Equinor’s 60% interest in the Peregrino field. The US$3.4Bn agreement, signed 1 May 2025, is expected to close by July 2026 pending regulatory approvals. Equinor is currently working on a transfer of its stake to Brazilian independent oil company PRIO, already a partner in the Peregrino field, as it acquired Sinochem’s 40% interest in the Peregrino field in 2024.

The companies have said work is underway to complete the transfer of operatorship by PRIO, which will take place once all regulatory approvals are obtained.

The safety work on the FPSO is expected to take between three to six weeks to be fully completed, according to PRIO.

Equinor has been operating the Peregrino field since 2009, and around 300M barrels of oil have been produced by the asset over 15 years. Peregrino is a heavy oil field and consists of an FPSO, supported by three fixed platforms. The field is in the Campos Basin, east of Rio de Janeiro. In Q1 2025, Equinor´s share of production from Peregrino was around 55,000 barrels per day. Full field production for Peregrino was reported to be 97,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Q2 2025.