Brazilian state oil company Petrobras has signed deals worth USD 3.46 billion for the construction of eight platform hulls to tap its huge offshore oil fields. With partners BG Group, GALP Energia and Repsol, Petrobas signed two contracts for the platforms with Brazilian infrastructure firm Engevix Engenharia SA for use in the first phase of production in the deepwater Santos Basin subsalt area. The floating production units known (FPSOs) will have the capacity to process up to 150,000 bpd of oil and 6 million CUM of gas per day and are expected to be in operation by 2017. Construction of the hulls is to start in March, 2011, at a shipyard in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul with 70% of their content sourced in Brazil. The first two should be delivered in 2013 and the rest by 2015. Six of the eight units will be used in the Santos Basin blocs where the Tupi and Iracema fields are located and which are operated by Petrobras, BG Group and GALP. The remaining two will be used in a bloc with the Guara and Carioca fields where BG Group and Repsol are partnered with Petrobras.