Decommissioning of Oil and Gas Production Systems in Brazil

UNITING KNOWLEDGE INTEGRATED SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FOR GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT

In the early 1970s, consumption of petroleum products in Brazil doubled. With that, was great the need the discoveries of new wells. The possibilities for expanding production were at sea, which began to receive even more attention. After the discovery of the first offshore field, in Sergipe, Petrobras made more than 20 discoveries on the coast of several states. It was the beginning of a new era. In 1977, the Campos Basin, located between the states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, began its commercial offshore production, becoming the most important oil province in Brazil until the discovery of the Pre-Salt province, in the Santos Basin. As these fields are producing for a long time, many of them are already completely depleted or their production is in way of to be not commercial anymore, and their facilities need to be decommissioned. This review of decommissioning practices of fixed offshore platforms carried out worldwide has focus on the removal of topside with special v...

EUCERS Strategy Papers, 2016

For the past years, Brazil has become an important player in the global hydrocarbon sector, particularly in the fields of oil and, to a lesser extent, natural gas. As time went by, the country’s exploration and production (E&P) sector has developed specific technologies to deal with challenges arising from deep-sea activities, which account for Brazil’s most significant oil and natural gas production, in addition to the somewhat successful government policies for biofuels. From originally being a country heavily reliant on hydrocarbon imports, Brazil has diminished its oil dependence considerably in the past decade. The country’s national oil company (NOC), Petrobras, has gained much expertise in light of continuous discoveries and many international oil companies (IOCs) have benefitted from the end of state monopoly on most hydrocarbon activities in the late 1990s. Since then, international corporations have turned to Brazil for a share of the country’s rising production of oil and natural gas in the past decades. If, on the one hand, Brazil’s status concerning E&P operations has changed considerably in absolute numbers, which can be verified by the evolution of the import/export ratio, on the other, the country’s downstream sector remains unable to process the necessary amounts of national crude oil (which is mostly heavy) in a secure and continuous manner for domestic demand, let alone carry exports of refined products in a massive scale. The constant reinvestment Petrobras (which, by and large, is responsible for most of Brazil’s hydrocarbon production) has planned for the country’s diversification in E&P operations is very much bound to both external factors – such as international oil prices and global demand – and internal ones, such as the recent corruption scandals that have affected part of the company’s management. At the same time, private companies and IOCs operating in Brazil are an increasing part of the country’s E&P sector through concession and production sharing agreement (PSA) regimes. The present-day situation of growing production and increased demand shows Brazil as an important player in the world energy realm, but it is still not clear if its status as an “energy superpower” is conclusive. Therefore, by making use of statistical data from Brazilian and international agencies, as well as sources from the legal, political and international relations field, this study seeks to present the current scenario of hydrocarbon exploration in Brazil in order to answer the following questions: 1) what is hydrocarbon security for Brazil; 2) within the hydrocarbon sector, what is the role of the socio-political environment in Brazil; 3) Is Brazil energetically independent? To answer those questions one shall first introduce a brief history of oil and gas exploration in the country (as well as biofuels, an important element in the Brazilian fuel market) along with numbers covering reserves, exploration, production and foreign trade. Secondly, the framework of Brazil’s E&P operations will be presented through what the author believes to be the most relevant legal and political events in the history of this sector. After this, the current situation of pre-salt discoveries and exploration will be presented, followed by the country’s public tenders, IOC presence and a note on the corruption scandal Petrobras currently faces. Finally, the question of whether Brazil is energetically independent when it comes to hydrocarbons shall be discussed in order to answer if both its supplydemand scenario and its current production model, coupled with the recent Petrobras scandal, allow it to safely enjoy the benefits of its E&P operations.

Sustainability

The offshore harnessing of oil and gas resources is made possible by massive infrastructures installed at sea. At the end-of-life stage, in the absence of new uses for offshore installations, decommissioning proceedings usually take place, requiring the removal and final disposal of all materials. In Brazilian waters, decommissioning is hampered by high costs. The offshore wind-power sector has arisen as a new clean power source, in line with worldwide de-carbonization initiatives. In this context, we propose an innovative approach suggesting offshore wind power projects as an alternative to the removal and final disposal of infrastructures, a potential solution to Brazilian offshore decommissioning. In this article we report on the assessment of structures at the end of their lifecycle along with decommissioning cost estimation. Then, we explore wind turbine installation viability along the Brazilian coast and estimate the levelized cost of energy for each wind turbine. Finally, th...

2006

This paper presents the results of a research conducted to measure the importance of the oil and gas complex in the Brazilian economy and in its states.

2007

This paper presents the results of a research conducted to measure the importance of the oil and gas complex in the Brazilian economy and in its states, henceforth called O&G.

Energy Sources Part B: Economics, Planning, and Policy, 2012

This article deals with the impact in various sectors originated by the Brazilian petroleum industry with the very large petroleum and natural gas discoveries in the coastline of São Paulo So, besides presenting the issue of pre-salt in their social, environmental, economic, and technological context, a parallel line is traced with current and future requirements of new business areas in logistics and transport, thus emphasizing the positive character of this activity, its royalties, and also the great necessities of adequacy by the cities along the coast of São Paulo.

The discovery of the Presalt bounty has repositioned Brazil in the global oil and gas scenery. From an oil and gas importer, Brazil has now the potential to become a large oil producer. Nevertheless, to turn this potential into reality, Brazil will have to face important challenges to mobilize the necessary financial, technological and human resources, in a new and unfavorable external and domestic environment. After the liberalization of the Brazilian oil and gas (O&G) industry in the late 1990s, the level of investments has increased at a very fast pace until 2013. The investment dynamics during this period was characterized by the increase in the number of players in the industry, but maintaining Petrobras dominance. A new phase of the Brazilian oil and gas started after the dramatic decrease in oil and gas prices in second half of 2014. Petrobras’ severe financial crisis will give a larger role for private players in the Brazilian oil and gas sector. However, the future role of the private investors will depend very much on the attractiveness of Brazilian upstream sector. This paper analyzes the necessary measures to restore a healthy investment environment in the Brazilian O&G industry. After analyzing the barriers to the investment in the O&G industry in Brazil, we set a roadmap to increase the country’s upstream attractiveness, which includes:  Reducing the restrictions to the private investment in Presalt;  Reducing the regulatory costs associated with the diversity of contracts and fiscal regimes;  Adjusting government take to the current international O&G sector conditions;  Returning to regular E&P bidding rounds;  Improving the local content regulatory framework;  Addressing some regulatory and market barriers for private producers to access the natural gas market; and lastly,  Reducing the risk for private investors to enter the downstream sector with the introduction of competition within a transparent fuel price environment.

Energy Policy, 2014

Cost-benefit analyses of pre-salt and biofuels in Brazil. Hubbert model applied to pre-salt oil reserves. Sustainable energy scenarios. Carbon mitigation accounting based on biofuel scenarios. Enhanced oil recovery effect on pre-salt oil reserves.