OREANDA-NEWS. OGX, the EBX Group's oil and gas exploration and production company, announces that the FPSO OSX-3, which will be responsible for the production in the Tubarao Martelo field, arrived in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday morning (24/08). The unit left Singapore bound for Brazil on the 15th of July and after 41 days at sea, completed its crossing earlier than the originally scheduled period of about 50 days. The arrival of the FPSO OSX-3 is an important step for OGX towards the start of production at the Tubarao Martelo Field, in Blocks BM-C-39 and BM-C-40 in the Campos Basin, scheduled for the end of 2013.

“OGX continues to focus on the start of production at Tubarao Martelo and the arrival of the OSX-3 reinforces the continuity of the schedule as we had planned. The company has so far drilled and completed six horizontal production wells and has also completed formation tests in five producing wells, with results in line with our expectations.” states the CEO of OGX, Luiz Eduardo Carneiro.

On August 8th last, IBAMA granted to OGX the Installation License (LI) for activities related to Development and Offloading of Oil in the BM-C-39 and BM-C-40 Blocks, including the Tubarao Martelo and Remora fields. This month, OGX also received a Preliminary License, which certifies the environmental viability of the project submitted for the blocks, approving its location and design as described in the OGX environmental impact study.

At this point the prior installation of the mooring system at the location for specialized support vessels is being carried out. Once the admission procedures for the vessel by the Brazilian authorities have been finalized, the next step will be to connect the FPSO to its mooring system.

Recently OGX signed a contract with PETRONAS Brasil E&P Ltda (“Petronas”) for the sale of a 40% stake, with OGX continuing as the operator, in the concessions for Blocks BM-C-39 and BM-C-40. This transaction is subject to approval by the National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (“ANP”) and the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (“CADE”).