Petrobras will need a broad and qualified supply chain to meet the demand for new production systems in the coming years. From 2024 to 2028, the company will put 14 floating oil production platforms into operation, representing a third of FPSOs orders worldwide during this period. There is also great demand for submarine systems that will be connected to these units.
“With the size of our portfolio, we need to capture the entire market. We will need more people, more materials, more resources”, said Carlos Travassos, director of Engineering, Technology and Innovation at Petrobras, during the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), in Houston (USA), this Wednesday (8/5 ).
To meet this demand, suppliers will have to be able to offer and implement solutions related to Petrobras' decarbonization goals. “There is no room for projects that do not foresee a reduction in emissions”, guaranteed Travassos. According to him, Petrobras has already reduced the intensity of emissions from exploration and production activities by 53% from 2009 to 2023.
Of the 14 new units mentioned by the director, ten are already contracted. FPSOs are in the process of contracting for Albacora and Barracuda, both in the Campos Basin; and two units for the Sergipe-Alagoas (SEAP) project.
Travassos also recalled that the task of putting 14 units into production in five years is nothing new for Petrobras. “We have done this before”, he said, remembering that, from 2019 to 2023, Petrobras put 12 FPSOs into production, increasing installed production capacity by 1 million and 700 thousand barrels of oil per day. The increase represented 50% of all production capacity added in the world in the period.
1 billion for research
Also this Wednesday (8/5), Travassos presented Petrobras' initiatives in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) during an event promoted by the Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce (BRATECC), in parallel with the OTC. The director mentioned investments of US$3.6 billion in RD&I until 2028, as foreseen in the company's Strategic Plan for the period.
According to Travassos, Petrobras was the third oil and gas company in the world that invested the most in research and innovation in 2023, with US$726 million invested. For 2024, the forecast is for more than US$ 1 billion in resources.
