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Brazil Using Offshore Oil Boom To Build International R&D Center

2011; Society of Petroleum Engineers; Volume: 63; Issue: 12 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2118/1211-0032-jpt

1944-978X

Stephen Rassenfoss,

Marine and Offshore Engineering Studies

In Rio de Janeiro, they are building an island of energy technology. Near the center of the Ihla do Fundao is Petrobras’ central research center (Cenpes), which recently doubled in size with an enormous structure topped by a roof that looks like a giant wave. From the open top floor is a view of the south end of the island where the Rio Technology Park is sprouting. The park, nearly vacant a year ago, is now home to Schlumberger’s Brazilian research center. Its staffers will soon be joined by hundreds more from FMC Technologies and Baker Hughes. The construction wave is expected to grow from here. Within two years, the park is expected to be filled by international companies including Halliburton, BG, General Electric, Tenaris, and Siemens. Between the technology park and Petrobras lies the campus of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). The university, which created the park, is part of a network of research institutions in Brazil that have partnered with Petrobras on research and development (R&D) projects that have helped the company become an exploration and production (E&P) technology leader. The island is on the leading edge of Brazil’s drive to become an international center for oil industry technology development. Fueling the transformation are the billions of barrels of oil found beneath a thick layer of salt in the deep waters far off the coast of Brazil. Investor-owned oil companies are buying into government policies that will funnel billions of dollars into research in Brazil because the country offers a rare opportunity to lease off shore blocks that could hold billions of barrels of crude. Winning those blocks at auction requires buying Brazilian, hiring Brazilians, and now developing technology in Brazil. “We are doing all of this with a purpose” to improve the Brazilian economy, said Magda Chambriard, director of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), which regulates the country’s oil business. “We will have a lot of investment in research and development that will come from these agreements for oil exploration.” Two parts of the country’s oil regulations are driving the changes: local content requirement and the 1% rule. In lease auctions, a key measure for determining winners has been how much of the materials, labor, and services used will be from Brazil. Now there is an added criterion: Was the technology developed in Brazil?