The main oil-producing area in Brazil is the Campos basin, offshore Rio de Janeiro. Giant reservoirs discovered in deep water and increased oil demand in the country have led to new investments. To produce from this basin, Petrobras has installed 13 fixed towers (all in shallow waters less than 1,000 ft deep); however the company has adopted floating production systems (FPS's) that receive the oil directly from satellite wells or through subsea manifolds. FPS's allow flexibility, particularly when designing production systems. For deep water, Petrobras uses the same system with semisubmersibles and oil tankers, which are being converted to operate as floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) systems. At the same time, the increase in local oil production reduces the need for these carriers to import oil.
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