Natural Gas back to the center of discussions at Rio Oil & Gas 2018
The second day of the event was also marked by the launch of the corporate university of the oil industry
Rio de Janeiro, September 25, 2018 – The gas issue has been raised again in the 19th edition of Rio Oil & Gas on Tuesday (25/09) in a panel that addressed the path to a sustainable future. Irene Rummelhoff, Equinor’s Executive Vice-President of Marketing, Midstream and Processing, said she sees such fuel as the focus of the energy transition. “We believe in the expansion of the Brazilian natural gas market and its potential as an energy source”, said the executive. Christian Iturri, general sales manager for Shell Energy Americas, added, “gas will have a strong growth in energy supply, helping the decarbonization process.”
According to Luis Bertrán, Secretary General of the International Gas Union (IGU), for a worldwide expansion of the oil industry, there should be more competitiveness, reducing costs in the production chain and developing local production of natural gas. “Natural gas is likely to be the fastest-growing fossil fuel: about 1.6% per year by 2040, making it the second largest energy source in the world”, he said.
Among the sustainability measures proposed by IGU are the adoption of local policies to tackle pollution and the development of low carbon technologies for the production of gas.
The event also discussed the issue of energy efficiency and emission control at the Downstream Forum. Petrobras’ consultant Glenda Rangel highlighted the importance of companies adapting in a scenario of greater focus on sustainability. “We have to develop management tools that integrate energy and emissions”, she said.
Glenda also commented on how carbon pricing will affect all industries, posing challenges to many companies. “Carbons is likely to have a cost and this will make energy efficiency management very important in this new moment of the industry”, she said.
Safety Practices
The challenges of human factors in the development of a safety culture were discussed at the Sustainability and SMS Arena, a side event to the congress.
According to Alex de Almeida, an audit and surveillance advisor to the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), human factors such as perception or decision errors, mental or emotional condition of the professionals and even technical capacity of the team, have complex interactions with technological and organizational aspects of the production chain. “It is necessary to adopt a proactive approach, both from state bodies and the industry, in order to manage these human factors in developing a safety culture”, he says.
Currently, the main operational safety instrument in Brazil is the Technical Regulation of the Operational Safety Management System (OSMS), consisting of practices geared towards to performance and risk management, aimed at ensuring the protection of human life and the environment. The regulatory agency believes that, in order to consolidate the safety culture, it is necessary to update the OSMS and streamline management practices in a single regulation. “Good regulations alone do not ensure the effective operational safety of activities, just as surveillance alone does not ensure a good risk-based management. Strong integration with the industry is required to ensure the rapid evolution of a safety and sustainability culture”, said ANP’s SSM superintendent Marcelo de Macedo.
Training
With an eye to the training of professionals who already work and those who are interested in entering into the oil & gas industry, IBP has launched UnIBP – the corporate university of the oil, gas and biofuels industry. An evolution of corporate universities, UnIBP arrives with the goal of supporting small and medium-sized companies, as well as large enterprises that do not have corporate branches in Brazil.
“The timing is quite appropriate for the launch of UnibP. Our industry has gone through a serious crisis, in which we have lost a large number of professionals. However, the industry is made by us, people, and human resources are key to the resumption”, said Milton Costa Filho, IBP’s secretary general.
With a successful MBE in conjunction with PUC-Rio, IBP has signed a new partnership with Fundação Dom Cabral, through which it will offer an Executive MBA, focused on management in the oil & gas field. The program, which will start in April 2019, is based on changing profile of professionals who are entering into the oil & gas field and it will be based on the best international practices.
Digital technology in the integration of the production chain
In the panel that discussed the next steps in robotics and automation in the offshore oil & gas industry, during the O&G TechWeek, Repsol Sinopec Brasil’s researcher, Marcelo Andreotti, spoke about the integration of the entire exploration and production chain, using the Internet of Things (IoT),. “In the future we will no longer have offshore platforms; the operations will be remote, with digital platform. The technology will integrate the entire chain – exploration and production with refinery. This reduces the number of players, improves efficiency, optimizes costs and processes. And it’s already happening”, he said.
The O&G TechWeek takes place every day from 2:00 p.m. in Pavilion 2.