BG Group has started production from the Cidade de Itaguaí FPSO vessel, the sixth unit to begin production across the group’s discoveries in the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil, the company said in a news release.

The FPSO will produce from the Iracema North area of the Lula Field in the Petrobras-operated BM-S-11 block.

Anchored 240 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, the Cidade de Itaguaí is about 2,220 m above the ocean floor, the release said. This is the second leased FPSO deployed on the Iracema development and will double the gross production capacity to 300,000 barrels of oil per day and 16 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from the area. The FPSO will also be able to store 1.6 million barrels of oil.

BG Group has a 25% interest in Block BM-S-11 (Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., operator, 65% and Petrogal Brasil S.A., 10%). BG Group also has a 30% interest in Block BM-S-9 (Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., operator, 45% and Repsol Sinopec Brasil 25%), according to the release.