ANP presents study for second round of permanent offer
During the morning of the last day of OTC Brasil 2019, the Agency announces the addition of onshore areas in the North and Northeast
The last day of OTC Brasil 2019 began with the exploration superintendent of the National Agency of Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), Marina Abelha Ferreira, announcing the studies for a second round of permanent offers, with the addition of new areas, many of them onshore, mainly in the North and Northeast of Brazil. According to her, while proven pre-salt gas reserves have increased by 53% over the past two years, onshore there has been an increase of only 7%.
At the opening of the panel on gas market regulation, the ANP superintendent said that today 167 fields in 13 basins produce gas in the country. Most of the gas produced, however, is not available to the market, either due to the characteristics of the production or the lack of infrastructure for outflow. “This is a big challenge,” he summarized, noting that in the Santos Basin, where most production occurs, only in the Mexilhão field, gas production is not associated with oil production.
In the same panel, Equinor’s reserves manager Maria Clara Costa spoke about the company’s successes in increasing the recovery rate of oil and gas. The company has managed to extend oil recovery to 50% and plans to reach 60% by 2045. In gas, recovery is at 77% and the ambition is to reach 85%. “This could add $7.5 billion in value to the company,” he said, noting that Equinor also works to reduce production costs.
In another panel, Francisco Francilmar, PetroRio’s chief operating officer, spoke about the potential of mature fields and recalled that the company was one of the first to awaken to this opportunity. Like Equinor’s executive, however, he stressed the importance of reducing operating costs per barrel, which in Brazil is more than double that of Norway.
Along with representatives from the industry, operators and suppliers, the executive participated in a panel on challenges for the development of engineering projects.
Genesis engineering market development manager, Luiz Octavio Bandeira, drew attention to the opportunities that exist in fields already in operation and not just in greenfield (new) projects.
He highlighted the industry learning in recent years and behavioral characteristics that have helped the company to work on projects with partners from various countries, but drew attention to the strong dependence of people, in other words, the need for greater organization and processes to systematize the knowledge.
SBM Offshore’s technology manager, Guilherme Pinto, highlighted the importance of developing supplier clusters, with project design, engineering, regulatory knowledge and on-site execution capabilities. This, he said, is essential for convincing a foreign supplier or operator to execute a project in the country. “I have been talking to hundreds of engineering companies in the country and it is amazing how, besides being very good, they are very integrated with the global market, with what is done in the sector,” he explained.
With a new laboratory, Petrobras bets on innovation ecosystem
Nicolás Simone, Petrobras’ director of digital transformation and innovation, was the last speaker in the series of breakfasts that opened the three-day OTC Brasil 2019 program. He highlighted the company’s pursuit of disruptive solutions and reinforced the state’s interest in integration with the innovation ecosystem of suppliers, startups and also employees of the company with good ideas.
To this end, the operator is opening a new laboratory at Cenpes, the Corporate Lab, whose focus goes far beyond the development of engineering projects. “We want the most from the startup ecosystem. Developing the oil and gas value chain and renewing the internal culture,” he said, noting that innovations can occur in the financial and legal areas with the use of artificial intelligence, for example. “We’re looking for startups within the company as well. Sometimes there’s a group of people in the company with good ideas. We can take advantage of them.”
OTC Brasil is sponsored by Petrobras, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, Petrogal, Total, Repsol Sinopec, TechnipFMC, Vallourec, PetroRio, Aker Solutions, Frank’s International, Maha Energy Brazil, Shawcor, Solvay, Halliburton, Enauta and MOL.