Marine Technology Reporter Blogs - brazil

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 importance of increasing the number of maintenance rigs in decreasing accident risks on older production rigs should not be underestimated, and Petrobras will need to speed up their construction, as there is no shortage of old rigs out there.Petrobras is finally increasing its investments on Maintenance and Security Units “Unidades de Manutenção e Segurança” (UMS). The new unit UMS Cidade de Arraial do Cabo, will be supplying logistics support for production rigs at the Campos Basin, its main function will be to increase safety on the rigs through maintenance and renovation in order to increase the life expectancy of these rigs.

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.

Chinese companies such as Sinopec, Sinochem, CNOOC, CSSC are actively pursuing partnerships worldwide, in Brazil this effort is particularly noticeable through recent partnerships with O&G players such as Petrobras, Statoil and Repsol.In the shipbuilding business news of some form of partnership between CSSC and local builders is expected for the near future as the local shipbuilding capabilities expand. In the O&G industry, Sinopec just recently announced its partnership agreement with Spanish operator Repsol. The agreement represented a capital increase of around 7 billion for Repsol Brasil, increasing Repsol Brasil´s total capital to around 17.8 billion. With this agreement 60% of Repsol Brasil still belongs to Repsol, while 40% now belongs to Sinopec.

The massive increase of E&P in Brazil, especially when concerned with deepwater is giving rise to a new subsea equipment and technology industry in the country.Subsea technology companies have been operating in Brazil for many years. FMC Technologies for example has been in Brazil since 1956 and currently has two manufacturing facilities in Rio de Janeiro and one service base in Macaé (Northeast of the city of Rio). Construction of its new Technology Center, announced in July of 2010, is expected to be completed in the first half of 2011. The new facility will work on the development of innovative and cost effective subsea production systems to address the challenges associated with Petrobras' pre-salt oil and gas fields.

PipeWay is a Brazilian company specializing in pipeline inspection technology and pigging unit manufacture. Starting from a small back room in a Brazilian university, the company has grown to be the leading national pipe inspection company and is also gaining international reputation to boot.PipeWay Internatinal was formed by an alliance between a Brazilian company called PipeWay Engenharia and an American company, to work together in North America. PipeWay Engenharia is the sole company in the Southern Hemisphere with fully national production, which manufactures and operates tools for O&G pipeline inspection-pigs, which check anomalies such as ovalnesses, crushing and corrosions, contributing to avoid leakages that may cause ecological accidents.

The oil industry in Brazil finishes the year with intense activity on all fronts and the efforts are massive. However the risks taken on the deepwater projects and older production rigs may still lead to major spills if not kept in check.Petrobras recently discovered light oil in sandstones reservoirs in the post-salt section of the Espírito Santo Basin. The discovery was the result of the drilling of the 1-BRSA-882-ESS well, known as Indra, located within the BM-ES-32 Block. Petrobras holds a 60% stake and is the operator, Statoil holds the remaining 40%. It is located 140 km from the city of Vitória and was drilled to approximately 3,850 m, from a water depth of approximately 2,100 m, and is the deepest oil discovery at Espírito Santo Basin.

The Brazilian northeast state of Bahia will house various construction yards and shipyards dedicated to rig module construction, such as jackets and floats.Accompanying the growth in ship construction in the Brazilian northeast states, the tropical state of Bahia is showing a marked increase in shipbuilding investments. Along the “Baía de Todos os Santos” or Bay of All Saints, various yards are being built to compete for rig module orders. The major client will undoubtedly be Petrobras, but there are expectations that as the yards increase their efficiency, other national and foreign O&G players operating in the Brazilian offshore will also become interested in placing orders to these new yards.

Petrobras has started the tendering process for machinery for the 28 pre-salt FPSOs to be built in Brazil. Hopes are that such a large order will attract the limited number of marine turbine manufacturers to set shop in Brazil.The tendering process is expected to involve up to 128 units, including marine turbines, generators and compressors. Since there a but a handful of heavy marine turbine manufacturers in the world and with the local content policy demanding around 70% local content from shipboard equipment manufacturers, Petrobras hopes to attract some of the larger global marine turbine, generator and compressor suppliers to install manufacturing plants in Brazil.

With the final voting of the new regulatory model for Brazil´s O&G market, Petrobras confirms it will control local development in order to let local industry catch up to the demand.The Brazilian O&G market development speed is directly dependent on the shipbuilding industry and the specialized equipment and services industry. The hard truth is that none of these local supporting industries are presently capable of supplying the Brazilian O&G demand and it is clear that it will take quite a few years for the local industry to catch up to this demand, even then in many cases, such as shipbuilding, this accelerated growth will only be possible through partnerships with leading international shipbuilders.

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.

With the intention of making a more efficient pre-salt FPSO production in Brazil, Petrobras had selected the Rio Grande Shipyard works and dry-dock to be their FPSO production center. There was still a need for a tender process to select which local company would be responsible for the construction process of the first 8 FPSOs to be built from a total of 40 FPSOs originally calculated to be needed for the pre-salt development. These units are part of the new strategy for the construction of production units, designed to simplify projects and standardize equipment. Producing identical hulls in series will accelerate the construction phase, and allow economies of scale and cost optimization.

With an eye on the lucrative subsea equipment market, suppliers are investing in technology, local workforce and expanding local facilities. New Brazilian companies specialized in subsea equipment and services also strive to compete with foreign suppliers.Today Petrobras is one of the greatest if not the greatest subsea equipment buyer in the world. With the ongoing discoveries of new deepwater and ultra-deepwater O&G plays in Brazil´s offshore, there is a sustained demand for essential subsea systems such as BOPs, Christmas trees, subsea manifolds, risers, rigid and flexible flowlines, umbilicals, subsea control and monitoring systems, ROV´s, AUS´s and all manner of subsea support systems.

Using its Norwegian branch to launch a drillship operator is one of the options that Petrobras is evaluating in order to administer the 28 drillships the company plans to order.This option would entail creating a holding company as a subsidiary to Petrobras Netherlands B.V. (PNBV) to administer the operation of the 28 drillers to be ordered in the coming years in order to fulfill the drilling needs of the company´s aggressive exploratory campaign in looking for major reservoirs along the Santos Basin pre-salt. The main reason for using a PNBV subsidiary would be to speed up the company´s creation so as not to affect the planned exploratory schedule and also to decrease the company´s direct investment.

With the growth of the Brazilian O&G market, various small local operators has sprung up, truly coloring the oil market scene in the country and also attracting foreign investors looking at forming local partnerships.Aurizônia Petróleo was established in 2004 in Rio Grande do Norte, ain north Brazil and has two branches, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) and in Mossoró (RN). The company's objective is the exploration, production, importation and exportation of oil and natural gas. Since its inception, Aurizônia has been highly successful in building a balanced and successful E&P portfolio in mature land basins in Brazil. Among the areas in which Aurizônia operates…

New discoveries and the development of deepwater and ultra-deepwater pre-salt increases the demand for subsea equipment and service providers, attracting various international and local companies to compete for subsea contracts for the Brazilian offshore.The deepwater scene is in full swing in Brazil, with major projects being developed by various operators and national operator Petrobras. All these projects require a multitude of subsea equipment and subsea services, which accounted for a steady growth in subsea equipment and service providers from around the world setting shop in Brazil. Companies that have a history of quality equipment and services usually have an advantage when disputing these contracts, but the final product and services price is also a major issue.

Present in Brazil for over 90 years, GE is preparing to invest $500 million in Brazil along the next 3 years and maintain its investments in local training and research. GE O&G mayl be one of the main recipients of this local investment as it is a market with great growth potential and where GE already has a very strong presence. Very recently Petrobras and General Electric (GE) signed an agreement for future technology cooperation in R&D projects for monitoring and controlling oil and gas production systems. The development of subsea and compact systems for O&GQ production, and remote monitoring of equipment are among the purposes of this agreement, which highlights the importance GE has had in the development of Brazil´s oil industry.

While the news pertaining to discoveries and new field developments is highly encouraging, the bottleneck created by logistics needs for the pre-salt and lack of specialized workforce in various areas of the O&G industry is hindering a faster growth rate for the oil and shipbuilding industry in Brazil.Petrobras was recently upgraded to being the fourth largest energy company in the world, mostly due to the pre-salt fields and there is little doubt in the market that the company can continue climbing this ladder, possibly to the very top, in another decade. Unfortunately it is not all roses, as serious logistics and workforce issues continue plaguing the nation.

Continuing the influx of foreign investments in Brazil´s O&G market, that has attracted investment groups from Europe, North America and Asia. Singapore state investment holding Temasek has recently acquired shares from Brazil´s Odebrecht Oil & Gas (OOG).Negotiations to conclude the deal have been going on for five months and the final agreement has been drawn whereas Temasek bought 14.3 % of OOG for $400 million. OOG´s main interest in the partnership was to attract capital in order to increase its international presence and expand it deepwater drill rig construction program in Brazil. OOG hopes that the new partnership will help it secure the $3.5 billion in investments it that planned for 2011-2013.

The launching of the Rio Grande Naval Complex completes another key project for pre-salt production, as the complex will house the hybrid pre-salt FPSO production line, which already has an order book for 8 units. Petrobras has launched today the Rio Grande Naval Complex, in the city of Rio Grande, southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. The complex is considered so vital to the Brazilian pre-salt production that the outgoing president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was in attendance. The complex consists of a 430,000 m² infrastructure designed for the construction and repair of offshore units for the O&G industry. The complex will be capable of building drillers and production rigs.