09/16/2008 15h27
Petrobras lists 234 orders only to develop the pre-salt area
Gazeta Mercantil - 09/16/2008
The pre-salt reserves start producing gigantic numbers that go beyond the size of the deposits of the new oil frontier. In order to develop the new frontier, Petrobras listed 234 large-sized orders - among platforms, ships, rigs and other units of production - and 112.6 thousand new workers to handle the challenges of the new province throughout the entire productive chain. The company will also require four thousand "Christmas trees", the submerged steel structures used in the extraction of oil in the sea, besides another 441 turbines. "The turbines alone would already justify, for instance, the construction of a plant in the Country", said the financial officer of the company, Almir Barbassa. In order to handle the size of the effort, Brazil already studies measurements to stimulate the local production of equipment. Among them is the release of the manufacturing of rigs in Brazil. Barbassa also revealed that, from this year on, Petrobras will contract 70 large ships, 146 constructed in the dry dock of Estaleiro Rio Grande, a shipyard in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and the biding for the project is also expected for next month. They will also have capacity for 5 million cubical meters of natural gas and will be installed in 2015 and 2016. They will be manufactured in series, with the purpose of lowering costs. "We should reach a production of 4.1 million barrels a day until 2015", commented Barbassa. The rhythm of the production's increase is strong. The ten rigs that Petrobras will start contracting in October are only the beginning. The president of the state-owned company, Jose Sérgio Gabrielli, affirmed the company is studying new technologies for the exploration and production in the pre-salt areas. The ordered units could be replaced by new productive systems, but new technologies will require time.
