Petrobras Postpones P-52 Platform Restart After Gas Leak Probe
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State-controlled Brazilian oil company Petrobras has kept its P-52 offshore platform offline for nine months following a flammable gas leak, with no set date for restarting operations.
Renata Baruzzi, Petrobras’s executive director of engineering, technology, and innovation, stated in a Thursday interview that a specialized working group has until October to complete its assessment of restart options. She noted that it is still uncertain if the platform will resume production before the end of the year.
The emergency shutdown in October was triggered by a suspected rupture in a gas-lift riser. Subsequent inspections of the platform’s other risers revealed similar degradation in another unit.
Brazil’s oil regulator, ANP, ordered Petrobras in December to halt operations until the company investigates the failure, applies corrective actions, and proves that all critical safety risks are resolved. The agency confirmed to Bloomberg News that Petrobras has not yet submitted evidence meeting these requirements.
The P-52 platform is one of four units operating in the Roncador field, located in the Campos Basin. Petrobras holds a 75% operating stake in the field alongside partner Equinor ASA, which holds 25%.
Production in the Campos Basin peaked in 2011 and has since declined. Petrobras plans to spend $19 billion between 2026 and 2030 to revitalize these mature fields.
The P-52 platform launched in 2007 with a design capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). However, Baruzzi revealed that prior to the shutdown, it was producing only about 35,000 bopd, adding that none of the platforms in the Campos Basin are currently running at full capacity.
