OTC 2013: Petrobras’ Long-Term Technological Strategy for Deepwater Production

The importance of integrating companies that operate in deepwater oil and gas fields with universities and suppliers for the development of offshore production technology was highlighted during the “Global Deepwater Technology Development” panel this Monday, May 6, in Houston (USA), which featured a presentation by Petrobras’ executive manager for Production Engineering in the Exploration & Production business area, Solange da Silva Guedes.

The panel, with more than 250 attendees, opened the first day of the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), the world’s biggest event devoted to offshore oil exploration and production.

“The collaboration with universities from around the world, companies and suppliers is something Petrobras is used to doing, and it has been very fruitful”, said the executive, who highlighted the opportunities for technological development that were created by the pre-salt discovery. “With technology, we have managed to produce 300,000 barrels per day in the region after only seven years after its discovery”, she explained. Among the pre-salt technological highlights, the manager outlined the progress in the development of advanced solutions in reservoir characterization, well drilling and completion technologies, underwater equipment systems, the integrity of facilities and CO2 processing and treatment.

Solange Guedes also mentioned that the development of technologies in partnership with other institutions has, at Petrobras, strategic programs with proven success, such as Procap, which made possible most of the solutions for the Campos Basin. “The first Procap was created to develop technologies for production in fields at water depths greater than 400 meters”, she recalled. “Today, the Procap Visão Futuro (Future Vision) seeks to anticipate the needs and to provide and improve the technologies”, she said while mentioning the program, which is focused on technological solutions in oil and gas exploration and production and brings together more than 40 institutions from all over the world in the areas of logistics, reservoirs, sustainability and well engineering.

Joint projects, such as DeepStar, are very important for the Company’s technology development strategy, since they help with accelerating the detection of solutions with reduced Research and Development costs. According to the executive, the Company’s long-term technological strategy, which is aligned with the Business and Management Plan, provides a strong cooperation between Petrobras and its main partners, contributing to technologies that are powerful tools to ensure safe and efficient operations.

DeepStar, an organization focused on the research and development of technologies for deepwater oil exploration and production, is the result of bringing together the world’s most important energy companies.