MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rio do Janeiro will host first top level meeting on Brazil’s pre-salt oil fields

Petrobras president José Sergio Gabrielli

The first major top-level industry wide meeting of all leading players in the exploration of the Brazilian pre-salt oil fields will be taking place next in June in Rio de Janeiro.

“The pre-salt fields are estimated to contain billions of barrels of oil and their discovery is regarded as one of the most exciting oil and gas exploration developments of the decade, providing enormous opportunities for energy companies globally” said Igor Tavares, director of the Pre-Salt Brazil Congress.

Among the many experts announced for the congress are Petrobras president José Sergio Gabrielli and State Secretary of Economic Development, Energy and Services, Julio Bueno.

In August last year, the Brazilian President Lula da Silva, proposed changes to the country’s oil laws, including increased state control over the massive crude reserves and changing the current concession regime to a production-sharing system.

According to Igor Tavares, the Rio industry gathering will provide valuable insight into Brazil’s regulatory framework, as well as updates on concessions and licensing rounds for the region’s deep-sea deposits.

“There are also the challenges of overcoming the geological and technological specifics of the pre-salt oil fields and we have some of the industry’s leading experts, such as FloaTEC, who will share their expertise”, says Tavares.

FloaTEC, a deepwater floating production systems producer, is already in business with Petrobras. Earlier this year it signed a billion US dollar deal with Petrobras for the construction of the P-61, TLWP platform that will be set up in the Papa Terra field in the Campos Basin.

FloaTEC President Eric Namtvedt describes the offshore pre-salt discoveries in Brazil as “the new frontier for the industry” and says the P-61, TLWP platform allows for direct vertical access into the well bore.

“Wells with direct vertical access have greater reservoir recovery potential than traditional sub-sea wells due to the lower costs associated with well intervention and the opportunity to employ secondary recovery techniques”, he added.

The Pre-Salt Brazil Congress will address the following aspects of developing the pre-salt oil reserves: Operation investment, finance options, fundraising and new investors; Sub-sea technologies – operation and development of effective systems for pre-salt production; Drilling and wells: cutting edge technologies and advances to produce at pre-salt layers.