The yard selection for the provision of two large floating production, storage and offloading vessels for the Petrobras-operated Atapu and Sepia pre-salt fields in Brazil’s Santos basin could encounter unexpected twists and turns.

The result of the last-minute de-risking process casts uncertainty on the continued participation by much-touted Chinese yard Offshore Oil Engineering Company (COOEC), which submitted a bid for the P-84 FPSO, while Singapore’s Seatrium presented offers for both the P-84 and P-85 floaters.