Marine Technology Reporter Blogs - research

Since 2007, Petrobras, along with national research institutes and industry suppliers, has been busy researching physical, chemical, geological, biological and socio-economic characteristics of the Campos Basin, a region that starts at the north end of the State of Rio de Janeiro all the way to the south of the State of Espirito Santo, encompassing an area of some 100 thousand square kilometers. The project has two main parts, one about fisheries and its socio-economic impact and the other about environmental issues, which is called the Habitat Project. The information is being transformed into a database, which will be used to support decision making concerning environmental issues, environmental management and will also be edited as a scientific publication.

As huge investments are made in Brazil to develop the country`s O&G potential, actions targeting preservation of coastal and underwater ecosystems along the Brazilian coast are still lacking. With the Brazilian coast being 7,491 km long, it is even understandable that the Brazilian government, Petrobras and environmental agencies, find it difficult to expand coastal preservation projects to include the whole coast including the thousands of coastal islands. Petrobras has been making important investments in preservation of coastal and underwater ecosystem along the Brazilian coast, sponsoring far reaching projects in various areas, such as preservation of coastal flora and fauna, fisheries management and environmental education programs for coastal communities.

The Remus 6000 AUV was designed and developed by a partnership between the Naval Oceanographic Office, the Office of Naval Research and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). The Hydroid Inc, is young company, which was founded in 2001 by the inventors of REMUS to commercialize their product and to allow this ultra-deepwater AUV technology to reach a wider market and to guarantee funding for continuous product development. The REMUS AUV is the product of over 15 years of leading edge research and development. The REMUS 6000 is the deepwater version of the acclaimed Remus 100, lightweight, shallow water AUV and the Remus 600 deep water AUV.

Siemens has recently announced that it plans to invest around $150 million in Brazil, of this sum $50 million alone will be invested in a new technology in Rio de Janeiro. The new technology research center will be located within the UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) technology park at Fundão Island, where Siemens plans to concentrate all of its research and development activities. The UFRJ Technology Park is already a hub for research centers related to the O&G industry, harboring research centers belonging to the Brazilian national operator Petrobras and also to major O&G industry service providers such as Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Halliburton.

After SLB launching its geosciences lab late last year, 2011 starts with agreements to build Halliburton and Tenaris Labs at the UFRJ Tech Park, which is already considered the main technology research hub in Latin America.Halliburon and Tenaris Confac recently signed contracts with UFRJ (Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) to build laboratories within the university´s technology complex, which is located at Fundão Island in the north zone of Rio. Both companies will be building research facilities for development of new technologies for the O&G industry. They will join Petrobras, Baker Hughes, FMC, Usiminas and SLB who already have research labs installed in the area.

The Brazilian government and Navy are considering an ambitious plan for launching an offshore subsea lab to be located at the limit of the country´s territorial waters and beyond the farthest pre-salt playThe idea is to place an oceanographic lab at Brazil´s most remote maritime frontier, in order to have a continuous presence and dominate as area in which hidden natural riches go beyond the pre-salt layers. At the limit of the continental platform, around 350 nautical miles (648 km) from the coast, the potential for mineral reserves under the seabed is considered to be very high. This is not only a government project but also a military matter, which will involve government agencies, the Brazilian Navy, and Brazilian private companies.

The O&G service provider is giving priority to investments in Brazil as part of its worldwide investment strategy. Studying the Deepwater Pre-salt Carbonate Systems in Brazil is one of their main priorities. With the expected growth of Brazil´s current O&G production from 2 million boe to 5 billion boe by 2015, industry service providers are feeling the necessity of making local investments proportionate to this expected growth. Schlumberger, as a leading service provider in the O&G industry has been quietly expanding its operations in Brazil through investments in local infrastructure and in aggressively pursuing highly qualified technicians and engineers.

The new facilities, including bold construction techniques, sustainability and eco-efficiency, represent an advance for Petrobras’ technology development. With the expansion the complex on Fundão Island will occupy more than 300 thousand m² making it one of the largest centers of applied research in the world. There will be various laboratories designed to meet the technological demands of Petrobras’ business areas, in particular, the laboratories of Biotechnology, Environment and Gas & Energy stand out. The expansion will also include modern laboratories dedicated exclusively to meeting the demands of the pre-salt projects. The CENPES expansion is part of a Petrobras strategy to expand the experimental capacity of the Brazilian technological park.

The FMC research center will be located at the technology center inside the UFRJ campus, which already houses other important international research centers and CENPES research center, owned by Petrobras.FMC will be the fourth major international O&G service provider to establish itself at the UFRJ technology park, joining Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Halliburton (still in negotiations). Expectation are high that with this great influx of researchers and investments in the UFRJ Technological Park, it will soon become the biggest O&G research center in the world, it is already acknowledged as being at the forefront of deepwater technological research.