Petrobras has awarded Maersk Supply Service and Alcatel Submarine Networks a key contract to run a permanent reservoir monitoring (PRM) system on the giant Mero field in the Santos basin pre-salt province offshore Brazil.

The PRM system will be used to monitor and optimise oil production from the Mero field, currently on stream via the Pioneiro de Libra and Guanabara floating production, storage and offloading vessels.

According to Petrobras, the supply and installation of the Mero PRM system will have “unprecedented” features in Brazil and will incorporate state-of-the-art 4D seismic monitoring technology obtained on different dates to track reservoir behaviour over time.