With two panels, the meeting presented the challenges and opportunities of offshore sector in Macaé from companies that operate in the Campos Basin perspective and from authorities and organizations point of view, aiming to understand the current scenario and the future outlook.

Milton Costa Filho, secretary general of IBP pointed out that the expectation is bring back the industry and show new technologies, equipments and services that will be needed to the market recovery. “We will need workforce. We will have a high resumption of hiring and this workforce has to be better prepared for new technologies, new equipment”, added.

About Brasil Offshore

Brasil Offshore, created based on a need for a space that joined innovation, content and opportunities to foster business and competition in the sector, is now in its 10th edition, promoting an event geared towards the future of the industry and the Campos Basin, with experiences and a full exhibition aimed at new technologies and solutions for the entire oil and gas exploration and production chain.

The Brasil Offshore will happen between June 25 to 28, at Centro de Convenções  Roberto Marinho, in Macaé, and is organized by Reed Exhibitions, The Brazilian Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Institute (IBP), and SPE International.

Rio de Janeiro, September 26 – On Wednesday, discussions about the future of Downstream in Brazil was one of the highlights in Rio Oil & Gas. Imports of fuels and the challenge in regulating supply in Brazil were some of the subjects discussed at the Downstream Forum, which is part of one of the tem Rio Oil & Gas side events.

Cade’s former chairman, Gesner Oliveira, said that the fuel sector has a dominant company (Petrobras) which, according to him, is not a problem.

“The situation, however, demands clear and transparent rules”, he said.

Sérgio Araújo, president of the Brazilian Association of Fuel Importers (ABICOM), said that import companies started operating when Petrobras announced that it would no longer be the sole responsible for supplying the country.

“Petrobras has repositioned itself and we have made investments in terminals and the companies started operating in imports”, said Araújo.

The Downstream Forum also brought a panel that discussed measures to encourage the construction of pipelines in Brazil. José Mauro Coelho, director of oil, gas and biofuels studies at the Energy Research Company (EPE), pointed out that Brazil has features that foster the movement of oil and by-products by pipelines, such as the continental size of the country, the large number of refineries on the Brazilian coast, the consumer market spread throughout the national territory and the growth in demand for derivatives, mainly diesel and aviation fuel.

Leandro Barros, Plural’s director of supply, has argued that the downstream chain lacks a strong regulatory environment that ensures a well-structured supply safety and attracts investment. For him, there are four main infrastructure issues that need to be enhanced: incentives to investments; regulatory improvement; improvement of the competitive environment and integrated logistic planning.

“We need an integrated discussion with public players in the construction of a feasible and viable Action Plan”, said Barros.

Biofuels – Biofuels and bottlenecks in the logistic chain were also placed in the agenda of the event. Experts spoke of the increased supply of biofuel and its consequences on logistics. According to the founding partner of Leggio, Marcus Delia, the encouragement to biofuel production will generate an inverse logistic flow in the energy industry.

“Currently, the great demand is taking derivatives from the coast to the countryside. The production of biofuels and ethanol will open up a strong demand in the opposite direction: from the countryside to the coast”, he said.

Carlos Octávio de Lima, executive Supply & Logistics manager of Ipiranga, pointed out the concentrations of industrial centers – ethanol, mainly in the South-Central region, and biodiesel in the Midwest – as another logistic challenge. “If investments happen, if the new National Biofuel Policy (RenovaBio) fulfills its role, we will have a 90% increase in traffic flow”, he warned.

Streamlining business cycles – In the Exploration & Production field, the panel “Global value chains and the new reality of the oil & gas industry” was headed by executives from major oil companies. ExxonMobil’s CEO Liam Mallon highlighted cooperation as a key factor in streamlining the industry.

“The first alignment should be between operators and regulators. The second one would be a good partnership between the acting companies. The third, which has been the focus of ExxonMobil in recent years, is the contractual integration with suppliers. Choosing strategic suppliers is the way to eliminate rework”, explained Mallon.

For Equinor’s Vice-President of Supply Chain, Mauro Andrade, digitization is part of a new wave of improvement in the sector. And this culture must be shared with suppliers. “90% of Equinor’s costs go to suppliers and only 10% are internal costs. They need to be integral parts of the process. The watchword is cooperation”, he said.

Felipe Arbelaez, regional president for Latin America at BP Energy, presented the energy transition as one of the company’s top priorities. “The low carbon economy is a demand of society. We will seek more energy, at lower costs and with fewer emissions. ”

Research and Development – Brazil will have US$ 13 billion by 2030 to be mandatorily invested in RD&I, in order to leverage technological innovations in the country’s supply chain, according to IBP’s Executive Secretary of Exploration and Production Antonio Guimarães, who participated in the panel ” Perspectives for the Oil & Gas Industry: A Window of Opportunity in Global Value Chains “.

For Guimarães, any investment in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) consists of the “local content of the future” and will allow Brazil to be competitive and integrate global value chains into the oil & gas industry.

PetroRio’s Operations Director, Roberto Monteiro, said that Brazil has means to meet the demand and mentioned the company’s recent investments in its new drilling campaign, which costed US$ 50 million. The company hired suppliers, many of them domestic, to drill three wells, which added 3,500 barrels/day to the production of the Polvo field, in the Campos Basin.

Economic stability for development – The country’s economic situation was also discussed on Wednesday at Rio Oil & Gas. The Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Finance, Ana Paula Vescovi, reported that Brazil faces an unprecedented fiscal crisis and that it is important to strategize in order to reverse the current scenario. Vescovi participated in the panel “Economic stability as the foundation for the development of key industries”. She advocated the rebalancing of public policies and inflationary control to keep the country’s economy in good standing.

“Besides, we need to discuss an effective economic reform again, a measure of great importance for the fiscal environment”, he added.

Esteves Colnado, Minister of Planning, Development and Management believes that there are still challenges in the Brazilian fiscal situation, but moving forward with structuring and microeconomic reforms is a must-do.

For Esteves, the scenario of uncertainties in both the domestic and foreign environments contribute to the depreciation of the national currency and increase of the real interest rate, generating greater economic instability. The minister said, however, that the government transition is being carried out in a strategic manner.

Exhibition – In this 19th edition, the Rio Oil & Gas exhibition brings together 400 companies. Petrobras has brought interactive games that simulate a Formula One race and an underwater trip to learn about the features of each rig used in submersible drilling. Visitors will be transported for a trip approximately 300km off the coast, at water depths exceeding two thousand meters. At the booth, there is also a full-size replica of one of McLaren’s cars, the company’s partner team.

Shell has created discussions boards where relevant issues about the company are addressed. At Shell Talks, the employees themselves are invited to talk about diversity and inclusion, startups or how to become a supplier.

ExxonMobil has created the Exxon Lab, with mini design thinking and Lean Six Sigma courses. The company also introduced a virtual reality simulator to demonstrate a drilling process in distinct environments such as ice, forest and mountain.

Rio de Janeiro, September 26 – Petrobras’ general contract manager Daniel Pedroso said on Wednesday at Rio Oil & Gas that the partnership established 18 years ago for developing the BM-S block -11, in the Santos Basin, where the Lula field is located, was key for the development of what currently represents the largest production in ultra-deep waters in the world.

“We had an area that was considered as high risk, with a doubtful seismic, infeasible cost of development. The three companies met and risk reduction prevailed back then. The partnership has been the focus of the company, which is prioritizing risk reduction”, explained Petrobras’ executive.

The block was sold in ANP’s Round 2, and the winning consortium gathered Petrobras (65%), BG (25%) and Petrogal (10%). Currently, it includes Shell, after the purchase of BG by the Anglo Dutch operator. In all, the Lula field has 133 wells that produce 829 thousand barrels per day.

“This consortium reaches the production level of a country like Colombia, and we have not yet finished development. We have already reached 1 billion barrels. We expect to reach 1 million barrels per day. We have at least two more decades of a successful story to tell”, said Pedroso.

The Lula field also has part of the ​​Iara area, where the well was drilled with a world record water depth, 580 meters, in consortium with France’s Total. During a speech at Rio Oil & Gas, Arnaud Breuillac, president of E&P at Total, spoke about the relevance of the Brazilian subsalt to the company’s portfolio. Total became the first operator in the region this year upon the acquisition of the Lapa field.

“We expect to significantly increase the daily production of oil equivalent in Total’s assets in the Brazilian subsalt by 2022. We believe that ultra-deep exploration, whether in Brazil or other locations around the world, is extremely competitive”, said Breuillac.

Onshore Development

Besides the subsalt, Rio Oil & Gas has opened room for discussions on the development of onshore basins. In a discussion at the Onshore Forum, the oil & gas secretary of the Ministry of Mines & Energy, João Vicente, drew attention to the potential and need for the development of mature fields in Brazil.

“The country has a huge potential and cannot fail to develop these assets or at least discuss whether to develop them. A key point for the development of the industry is Petrobras’ divestment program. Another point is the permanent offer, which is a unique opportunity for new players with a risk appetite and who can allocate capital for risky opportunities”, he said.

ANP’s director Dirceu Amorelli pointed out that ANP’s actions are focused on adjusting the regulation of each environment and on revitalizing the declining activities of the fields.

Refining

In the last couple of years, the Brazilian oil industry has once again drawn attention and attracted investments, which has prompted the need to discuss possibilities to develop the refining area. Besides, this segment has great potential here, as highlighted by Arlindo Moreira Filho, Petrobras’ general manager of restructuring programs for natural gas businesses, during the special session “An assessment of opportunities in Brazil’s refining area”.

“Brazil is the seventh largest consumer of oil derivatives in the world and the growth trend should continue, unlike what happens in mature markets. To attract new investments in this area, however, some efforts are required, such as ensuring regulatory and fiscal stability, combating fraud and aligning the biofuel and fossil fuel chains”, he said.

Regarding the pricing policy of derivatives, Décio Oddone, director general of ANP, was emphatic about the need for greater transparency. “Today, there is no transparency in how prices are calculated. Prices must reflect the international market and operating costs in Brazil in order to attract investment and generate competition”, he explained. “Only an open, dynamic and competitive market with a diversity of players will allow the increase of domestic production and reduce our dependence on imports”, he added.

Attraction and retention of talents

The future of the oil & gas industry, the need for modernity in the Human Resources areas of companies and the reduction of young people’s interest in operating in this industry was also a subject of discussion on Wednesday at Rio Oil & Gas.

Tatiana Mey, a MIT student, presented an international overview of the scenario, and told a little about her experience abroad, making a comparison with Brazil. “Young people in Brazil believe that this is an old-fashioned, outdated industry – they are short-sighted. They really want to create and work in a company that gives leadership opportunities, that truly believes in meritocracy. ”

According to the student, it is possible to observe that American oil & gas companies are changing their way of communicating. Tatiana observed that the Brazilian industry is beginning to modernize and cited the “Beyond the Surface” campaign, signed by the IBP, in addition to the initiative to promote Oil & Gas Techweek.

Rio Oil & Gas’s complete schedule can be accessed through the www.riooilgas.com.br portal or in the App, available for download on Google Play or the App Store.