Petrobras is facing major challenges as the world’s biggest customer for floating production, storage and offloading vessels due to a financing squeeze that is being felt particularly strongly among suppliers of chartered FPSOs.

The state-controlled Brazilian oil giant is looking to add to its already extensive fleet with 15 FPSOs currently in the contracting, construction or commissioning phase, plus more tenders in the pipeline, as part of an expansion expected to help turn Brazil into the world’s fourth-biggest oil producer.

The expansion plans come as post-pandemic supply-chain constraints, rising costs and a growing trend among Western banks to disassociate themselves from fossil fuels mean putting these plans into action is a growing challenge.