Marine Technology Reporter Blogs - cenpes

Where is the Petrobras Deepwater Containment System? Brazil today arguably has the largest deepwater drilling program in the world and most probably the biggest all around drilling effort in the world to boot. In 2011 alone 162 new wells will be drilled in Brazil, an all time high and a 30% increase compared to last year. Of these, 53 wells will be drilled offshore. It´s safe to assume that over 20% of these will be in deepwater pre-salt or deepwater post-salt plays along the Santos, Campos and Espirito Santo Basins. When Petrobras first announced this significant increase in their drilling program scope, a lot was said about expectations for more large pre-salt finds, increase in production, new drilling technologies, logistics problems and solutions and ultimately, profit.

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.

PRAVAP (Advanced Oil Recovery Program) began in 1993, when there was a need to create technological projects for the company to increase the recovery factor of its fields, prolonging its production on an economic and environmentally correct basis. PRAVAP main objectives are to provide and advance technological solutions that increase the recovery factor of oil fields, for optimum economy and permit exploration of fields considered under-commercial due to restrictions in existing technology. PRAVAP is organized in systemic projects, which are groups of research projects with a common objective. Wells - Its focus is on various technologies applicable in the well-formation interface…