SHELL expects to decide within the next three months on sanctioning Gato do Mato - its largest new Brazilian offshore project -after re-evaluating its viability in the light of supply constraints and rising costs in recent months. The UK-based supermajor has been working on contracting arrangements for a project that will feature a floating production, storage and offloading unit to be deployed in the Santos basin. Bids were welcomed recently in a tender to supply the subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) package for the planned pre-salt development, according to Cristiano Pinto da Costa, head of Shell's Brazilian unit. "We received the SURF bids and we are now in negotiations with the suppliers that submitted bids. In parallel on this, we are in negotiations to try to reach an agreement on the [FPSO] vessel," Costa said. "We need to define a few issues relating to cost uncertainties. We should be able to then reach a decision internally within the next three months and then take it to our partners."
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