France’s Total announced on Monday the Phase 3 of the Mero project, located offshore Brazil, has received a positive final investment decision (FID), Kallanish Energy reports.

The partners in the in the Libra Consortium, operated by Brazil’s Petrobras (40%), also include Shell (20%), CNOOC (20%) and CNPC (10%).

The Mero 3 floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) will have a liquid treatment capacity of 180,000 barrels per day (Bpd) and is expected to start up by 2024.

The FID follows the sanctioning of Mero 1 and Mero 2, which are expected to start production in 2021 and 2023, respectively. The Mero field is located in the Brazilian prolific pre-salt area, in the Santos Basin.

“The decision to launch Mero 3 marks a new milestone in the large-scale development of the vast oil resources of the Mero field – estimated at 3 to 4 billion barrels,” commented Arnaud Breuillac, President Exploration & Production at Total.

The executive said the decision is in line with Total’s growth strategy in Brazil’s deep-offshore, “based on giant projects enabling production at competitive cost, resilient in the face of oil price volatility.”

The Mero project will contribute to the Total’s production from 2020 onwards, with a target in Brazil of 150,000 Bpd by 2025.

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