What technologies is Petrobras developing?

Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras invests heavily in research and development, which helped to push innovations that led to the discovery and development of large deepwater oil and gas reserves, for example in the pre-salt.

Main aims of investments are improving operations, reduce costs and maximize safety. According to regulator ANP's latest numbers, the firm invested 12.7bn reais (US$4.3bn) between 1998 and March 2018 in R&D in Brazil.

During a recent event at industry federation Firjan, the executive manager of Petrobras' research center Cenpes at Rio de Janeiro state university, Orlando Ribeiro, said that "innovation is part of Petrobras' DNA. (...) We are intensively using digital technologies in our exploration works. The possibility of using artificial intelligence, machine learning, and intelligent video analytics to accelerate the workflow is fabulous."

Some of the initiatives Petrobras studies at Cenpes are:

- Geoscience technologies: Development of machine learning to shorten the execution time of works, improving their quality and increasing exploration success and recovery factors.

- Electric intelligent completion for wells: This research addresses the high costs for well construction and maintenance. The mechanism will allow opening and closing well zones to maximize or interrupt the production flow. Shell and Total are partners in the research.

- Autonomous units for well intervention: Focusing on the high costs for well intervention, the goal is to develop robots that could launch from drilling rigs and take care of intervention on wells.

- Dampened steel catenary riser: The firm wants to start using hydrodynamic dampers for risers, reducing the need for floats and shortening the length of lines that connect wells to the production units. It will also help to make the equipment less susceptible to problems of interference with other risers.

- CO2 separation on dense phases (hi-sep): This technology will allow the separation of CO2 and natural gas for reinjection at high pressures, helping liberating spaces on FPSO's topsides and improving production capacity by increasing the injection of big gas volumes produced in pre-salt areas.

- Robots to paint big surfaces: The automated painting system for large flat and vertical areas on vessels consists of a remotely controlled robot moving along ropes attached to the edge of the unit. It will help reduce safety risks for vessels painting.

- Carbon Molecular Sieve: CO2 separation membranes that are more resistant to pressure and the effects of contaminants from natural gas.

- Nanotechnology: Adding nanotechnology elements to conventional materials used to enhance the mechanical strength, thermal and electrical conductivity and useful life of equipment, among others.

- Digital Twins: Development of digital models of every field, including reservoirs, wells and subsea systems characteristics. It will reduce the need for physical interventions, help analysis and predict possible scenarios.

- System for safety supervision: Using intelligent video analytics to improve operations' safety. It will allow the cameras already installed on FPSOs to track field tasks and detect and prevent deviations and accidents by notifying workers about the correct use of safety equipment, access to restricted areas and possible obstruction of escape routes.