KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21): Yinson Holdings Bhd (KL:YINSON) announced on Monday that floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) Maria Quitéria has achieved first oil on Oct 15, 2024.

This marks the commencement of the project’s firm charter, with contracted day rates being paid to the group's FPSO unit Yinson Production for a period of 22.5 years, until 2047, Yinson said in a statement.

Yinson shares jumped in the final trading hour to close 2.97% or eight sen higher at RM2.77, after hovering in the red for much of the day. At its last close, the group is valued at RM8.88 billion.

FPSO Maria Quitéria is the second asset Yinson Production has delivered for its client Petrobras, following the delivery of FPSO Anna Nery in May 2023.  

FPSO Maria Quitéria has a production capacity of 100,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and a storage capacity of one million barrels.

The group was awarded the FPSO Maria Quitéria project by Petrobras in November 2021 and the conversion works commenced on Jan 25, 2022. After the successful completion of the project construction phase, the vessel set sail for Brazil in early May 2024, it said.

The delivery strengthens Yinson's long-term partnership with Petrobras, Yinson Production chief executive officer Flemming Grønnegaard said.

“We have been steadily growing our operations in Brazil over the past few years, and with FPSO Maria Quitéria joining our fleet, we look forward to further contributing to the country’s energy needs and help drive Brazil’s economic and communities’ growth,” he added.  

The group, via Yinson Production, has nine floating assets including two en-route for delivery, with a total order book of over US$22 billion (RM94.69 billion) lasting until 2048.

Of the two vessels, FPSO Atlanta, which is serving client Enauta, is still awaiting go-ahead for first oil, according to news reports in September. That 50,000-bpd vessel arrived in the Atlanta field offshore Brazil in May, and was initially expected to be commissioned in February this year.

Another FPSO, the 120,000-bpd Agogo for client Azule Energy is expected to be completed by 2025 for commissioning by 2026, according to Yinson's investor presentation.