Subsea 7 Secures Major Petrobras Contract Offshore Brazil

Source: Subsea 7 Inc.
Date: 05/26/2010 16:44


Subsea 7, through its i-Tech division, announced the largest single contract award to i-Tech since the formation of the division in January 2006. The award from Petroléo Brasileiro S/A (Petrobras) is for the provision of ROV and intervention tooling services onboard a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 30 offshore drilling units. The contract value is estimated at a minimum of US $250M with the potential for up to US $405M, dependent upon the number of units awarded and the number of personnel deployed.





i-Tech will provide a newly designed ROV based on its successful Centurion QX work-class ROV. The ROV systems will be mobilized in Brazil onboard rigs currently on hire to Petrobras and onboard a number of new build rigs. Engineering and installation support teams will be based in Brazil, UK and Asia-Pac. The contract duration for each ROV ranges from a minimum of five, to a maximum ten years, with the option to extend the contract for each ROV at the end of the initial term.





i-Tech's Managing Director, Bruce Masson, commented, "We are delighted to be awarded this major contract from Petrobras, one of the largest single contracts ever awarded globally for the provision of ROV services onboard drilling units. This award further strengthens our working relationship with Petrobras and further consolidates our position as the leading ROV contractor, offshore Brazil. The contract will allow i-Tech to plan for the long term with respect to our Brazilian business, enabling us to implement new and improved methods of working which will deliver value to both Petrobras and ourselves."

Petrobras Hits Oil Pay in Caratinga

Source: Petrobras
Date: 05/26/2010 16:45
Petrobras announced the discovery of two new light oil accumulations (29o API) in reservoirs in the Campos Basin's post- and pre-salt areas, by means of the drilling of well 6-CRT-43-RJS, known as Carimbé. The well is located in the Caratinga field area, about 106 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, at a water depth of 1,027 m.
The accumulation discovered in Albian age carbonatic reservoirs (post-salt) is nestled at a depth of 3,950 meters. Preliminary estimates indicate recoverable volumes of about 105 million barrels of oil equivalent.
The other accumulation confirmed by the well, found in Aptian age carbonate reservoirs (pre-salt) and at a depth of 4,275 m, appears to be an extension of the accumulation discovered previously by well-BR-63A 6-RJS in Barracuda Field area. This last accumulation was announced by the Company in February 25, 2010 and preliminary data indicate recoverable volumes of about 40 million barrels of oil equivalent. If the extension assumption is confirmed, preliminary data indicates a total estimated recoverable volume of 360 million barrels of oil equivalent to these accumulations.
Tests to assess the productivity of these reservoirs are foreseen to be carried out. It is also being analyzed the possibility of interconnecting this well to the P-48 platform, currently in operation in the Caratinga Field, taking advantage of the production and offloading infrastructure installed in the area.


These accumulations will be the object of an Evaluation Plan, to be submitted to the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) soon.

Petrobras and Galp introduce biofuels partnership in Lisbon

Source: Petrobras Agency

Date: 05/20/2010 09:08

Petrobras and Galp Energia will sign a cooperation agreement for a biofuels production project in Portugal, Wednesday (05/19), in Lisbon. The companies will build a biodiesel production plant at Galp's Sines refinery, which will process the feedstock produced in Brazil. The agreement is an extension of the partnership that has already been announced for the production of palm oil in Brazil.

"The goal is to produce 260 million tons of biodiesel. The feedstock will be the palm oil produced in the state of Pará," said Petrobras Biocombustível CEO Miguel Rossetto, during a press conference held Tuesday (05/18), in Lisbon.

The CEO of Galp, Manuel Ferreira de Oliveira, who also attended the press conference, said it a "privilege" to build another partnership with Petrobras, a company with which the Portuguese outfit is already associated in exploration and production blocks in Brazil.

To Oliveira, the project will help prepare Portugal for the technological challenges involved in complying with the legislation that determines the mandatory use of biofuels. "By this, we are contributing to more sustainable mobility in environmental terms," said Manuel Ferreira de Oliveira.
In addition to the two companies' CEOs, the executive manager of Galp, Fernando Gomes; the Executive Manager of Petrobras for America, Africa and Eurasia, Fernando Cunha; and the General Director of Petrobras Portugal, Jose Fernando de Freitas, also attended the news conference.

Parity

The project will be implemented via a parity joint venture yet to be formally constituted. According to Rossetto, production is expected to start in Portugal in 2015.

Palm will be planted in degraded areas in Pará, allowing for the recovery, the protection of the soil, and for the ecological balance of these regions. "We are confident about the environmental quality of the project, as these are values that are common to the assets of Galp and Petrobras," Rossetto said.

Two big oil finds in a row for Brazil

Brazil drew oil markets' attention again on Friday when it announced its second major oil find in a week, a field that may be bigger than a 4.5-billion-barrel find announced earlier this week.
The two new finds announced by Brazil's national oil regulator, the ANP, will provide the government with the needed collateral to inject billions of dollars into the state-run oil company Petrobras in exchange for a bigger federal stake in the company.

Petrobras shares were down one per cent at 29.67 reais, despite the news, amid a broader market decline on Friday.
The rights to the federally controlled oil will help Petrobras leverage it into capital to develop Brazil's vast subsalt oil reserves and expand Latin America's mining and farm commodities-rich export profile into hydrocarbons.

Brazil's ANP energy regulator on Wednesday said the 2-ANP-1-RJS well in the Santos Basin, which was drilled by state oil company Petrobras on behalf of the agency, pierced a subsalt field that holds an estimated 4.5 billion barrels of recoverable light crude.

That discovery, known as Franco, was the largest oil find in the world since 2007, when Petrobras announced the biggest ultra-deep find in history with its five-to-eight-billion-barrel Tupi field.
The ANP said on Friday that a second well, named Libra, sunk by Petrobras in the Santos Basin may turn up even more oil than Franco.

The ANP added that the oilfield tapped by the Franco well is not linked to the three-billion to four-billion-barrel Iara field that is controlled by Brazil's state-run oil company Petrobras and its partners Portugal's Galp and Britain's BG.

Usiminas wins bid to supply 7,700 tons of steel to the Promef

Usiminas offered the best price and won the bid for the purchase of 7,700 tons of steel plates to be used to build vessels under the Transpetro Fleet Modernization and Expansion Program (Promef).

The steel will be used by the Mauá Shipyard, located in Niterói (state of Rio de Janeiro), which is building four oil derivatives ships for the program. The first of these vessels will be launched and christened during a ceremony scheduled for June. This will be the second Promef launch this year, marking the revival of Brazilian shipbuilding industry through orders placed by Transpetro.

Nine steel plants from five countries took part in the tender. With the result, Usiminas already has 40,000 tons of steel contracted to be used in the construction of Promef ships. This amount represents 32% of the plates purchased for the program to date, which adds up to 123,600 tons.

"We have always stated that our preference is to buy steel in Brazil, as long as the price is internationally competitive. The result of this tender signals the beginning of a new era in the relationship between Usiminas and Transpetro, precisely at a time in which the Brazilian naval industry is resuming its activities," said Transpetro CEO, Sergio Machado.

The construction of the 49 vessels for the Transpetro fleet will consume a total of 680,000 tons of steel. The company will continue holding international price inquiries in order to always ensure the best trade conditions for the shipyards that are participating in the Promef. Given the weight of steel in the cost of a vessel (20 to 30%), this strategy is key to boosting the competitiveness of the Brazilian shipbuilding industry.

Bourbon Strengthens Position in Brazilian Market

Source: Bourbon

Date: 05/06/2010 14:11


Bourbon Offshore Maritima has strengthened its position on the Brazilian market by signing contracts with Petrobras for 13 new vessels.

Christian Lefevre, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of BOURBON announced, "We are delighted to have been selected by Petrobras. This is a real boost to BOURBON in its strategy of investing in innovative high-performance vessels that help clients reduce their costs, in particular through our Bourbon Liberty series. It also demonstrates that the offshore market in Brazil offers numerous development opportunities that BOURBON is well equipped to support, through its subsidiary Bourbon Offshore Maritima, by offering our full array of services and technical expertise from a local base."

With 40 Bourbon Liberty vessels currently in service, these contracts for 8 new vessels underline the success of this range of vessels whose features are ideally suited both to continental offshore and deepwater offshore.

Bourbon Offshore Maritima's fleet will thus be increased from 17 vessels (11 supply and 6 boats) to 30 vessels (19 supply and 11 crew boats) between now and the end of the year.

Petrobras hires seven new vessels within the Brazilian Shipping Companies (BSC) program

Source: Petrobras Agency

Date: 05/05/2010 10:30
Petrobras signed, Tuesday (05/04), at the Company's main office building (EDISE), in Rio de Janeiro, seven contracts for the construction of vessels for charter, for a term of 15 years, within the Brazilian Shipping Companies (BSC) Program, completing the 19 ships planned for this phase of the program.
Kingfish do Brasil Navegação Ltda. will build three vessels of 45,000 deadweight tons (DWT) for dark products (oil, fuel oil, among others), while Pancoast Navegação Ltda. will build four 30,000-DWT vessels, two for light products (naphtha, diesel, kerosene, gasoline) and two for dark products.
The BSC program is an inseparable part of a set of initiatives Petrobras has undertaken to drive naval construction in Brazil. The initiative is aimed to reduce maritime fleet dependence on the external market and generate jobs, always using international cost and quality parameters as reference.

Project to protect East Jefferson's pump stations gets Corps of Engineers order to proceed

By Bob Ross, The Times-Picayune

May 04, 2010, 3:02PM

The Corps of Engineers on Tuesday issued the order to proceed on a $174 million project to provide protection for East Jefferson's four pump stations from tropical weather.



The job goes to Odebrecht Construction Inc., of Coral Gables, Fla., which won the project after a complaint led to a second bidding process.



Originally, Kiewit Louisiana was the lowest of six bidders for the job, with a price of $195 million. One of the losing bidders, Cajun Constructors of Baton Rouge, filed an official protest with the corps U.S. Government Accountability Office. The GAO handles all federal complaints about purchases and contracts.







The Suburban Pump Station, shown here, is one of East Jefferson's four stations that would get fronting protection under a $174 million project that received an order to proceed on TuesdayAfter the project was bid again, Odebrecht was the low bidder, with a price $21 million lower than Kiewit's originally winning bid. No one came forward to protect Odebrecht's bid, which triggered the corp's order on Tuesday for Odebrecht to proceed with the work.

The pump station protection project is part of billions of dollars in projects the corps' is working hard to complete by June 1, 2011.



The project involves floodwall protection for the pump stations in the lake, in addition to a system of valves and gates to stop water from Lake Pontchartrain from getting into the canals that drain neighborhoods. This "backflow" has been named as the culprit for flooding much of East Jefferson in 2005 during Katrina.



The work will take place at the Bonnabel, Suburban, Elmwood and Duncan pump stations.

Subsea Momentum Building: Record High Marks in Sight

Brazil remains the pinnacle of current and forecast subsea activity with the prolific pre-salt play now beginning to be realized.

SUGAR LAND, Texas, May 03, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell have a heavy concentration of mega-projects off Nigeria throughout the decade.


--Asia Pacific -- specifically Australia -- is sending shock waves through the global petroleum equipment supply chain most notably with large demand for subsea & FLNG technologies.



Quest Offshore's quarterly survey of oil companies and subsea equipment system suppliers reveals that momentum is appearing to show through with a healthy volume of subsea system awards in Q1 2010 comprising 112 subsea trees. The upside of 2010 award activity, in line with Quest Offshore's high case forecast, shows a near-return to north of 400 subsea tree awards. Quest's mean case forecast -- undoubtedly a more achievable scenario -- reveals a promising move back to 2008/2009 award levels setting the stage for a market recovery. Quest currently projects a return to record-setting subsea award volumes toward the end of 2011 or the 1H 2012.



Brazil is the overwhelming market driver in this transition year with an estimated ~50% market share during 2010. Meaningful projects across several deepwater basins are on the horizon for project sanction and tenders over the next 18-24 months, but industry consensus expects sustained momentum materializing in 2011. With respect to the short-term forecast, Quest expects Africa award activity to increase around 50% over 2009. Asia Pacific meanwhile, continues to gain ground over the next 24 months with significant contributions from Australia.



Brazil: Continues to Carry Industry Demand



Brazil remains the pinnacle of current and forecast subsea activity with the prolific pre-salt play now beginning to be realized. Aker Solutions was recently awarded the 40 pre-salt tree contract for the Iara and Guara fields and as such carry recognition as the sole supplier of subsea trees for the prolific pre-salt at this time. As more contracts are awarded, we fully expect the other major subsea players to garner their share in this burgeoning sector.



Africa 2011-2012: Significant Activity Growth Projected with Help of New Areas



Quest expects West Africa to remain a steady base-load of the region's future demand, but much excitement has been building around other areas. Angola continues to have a meaningful backlog of mega-projects operated by experienced International Oil Companies. Total has projects in blocks 17 and 32 that will translate into high-value demand within the SURF deepwater supply chain. Total is also the first operator to utilize subsea separation off Angola; this important game changing technology will significantly impact the size, scope and complexity of the future subsea EPC contracts in the region. bp has at least two more installments of their block 31 project to execute off Angola worth hundreds of millions in subsea equipment contracts. ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell have a heavy concentration of mega projects off Nigeria throughout the decade.



US Gulf of Mexico: On the Verge of Re-Invention with Over US$50bn Earmarked



The US Gulf of Mexico (GoM) while expected to remain flat in 2010 compared to 2009, is poised for resurgence as IOC's start dedicating serious resources to the area which will positively impact project execution activities. ExxonMobil, Shell, bp, Chevron, and "super-independent" Anadarko among others have over 15 or more major projects in the pipeline slated for execution through the decade representing field development CAPEX in excess of US$50bn. This impending wave of significant capital-intensive projects sets a promising stage for a surge of subsea awards to 2020.



Asia Pacific: Stranded Gas Fields Welcome FLNG Technology



Asia Pacific -- specifically Australia -- is sending shock waves through the global petroleum equipment supply chain most notably with large demand for subsea & FLNG technologies. It took years of negotiations on topics ranging from environmental impact to lengthy gas sales agreements, but the mega gas fields off Australia have taken off

OTC confirms achievement, in 2011, the event in Brazil

Date: 05/03/2010 14:36


Its started on Monday (3), Houston, Texas, Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), the main international event of the offshore oil industry. For the eleventh consecutive year the Brazil pavilion organized by the Brazilian Institute of Oil, Gas and Biofuels (IBP) and the National Organization of the Petroleum Industry (Onip) attends in the OTC.

An offshoot of the project Brazilian Oil & Gas Supply, the result of agreement between Apex and Onip Brazil (Brazilian Agency for Export Promotion and Investment), the Brazil Pavilion, which in 2009 occupied 350 square meters, got bigger and changed his address. In 2010, the pavilion grew 40% (550 m²), occupying the number 1117, at the entrance of Reliant Center.


Integrate the pavilion 37 companies from various sectors of the productive chain of Brazilian oil industry, in addition to IBP, ONIP and the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels.

"The increasing number of companies in the pavilion demonstrates the potential exporter of Brazilian suppliers and arouse interest of foreign buyer or partner for Brazil, which is today a world reference in the industry offshore oil and gas," evaluates the executive secretary of IBP, Alvaro Teixeira.


For brazilians, the big news is the confirmation of the completion of 4 to October 6, 2011, in Rio de Janeiro, the first event of the OTC brand in Brazil. Two other editions of the event, called the Offshore Technology Conference - Brazil (OTCB) and will be held every two years, is already scheduled for 2013 and 2015.


Tomorrow (4), at two o´clock (16 o´clock for GMT), the president of Petrobras, José Sergio Gabrielli and the president of Petrobras America, Orlando Azevedo, grant a news conference. The executives will talk about the pre-salt discoveries off the Brazilian coast, the Long Duration Test of Tupi Santos Basin, the start of production in Cascade and Chinook in the Gulf of Mexico and on the business of Petrobras in Brazil and abroad.

Brazil’s EBX signs partnership deal with Wisco

Sao Paulo, Brazil, 15 April – Brazilian group EBX and China's Wuhan Iron and Steel (Wisco) Friday signed a partnership agreement for the construction and operation of a steelworks in the Industrial complex of the Superport of Açu, in the north of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.

EBX will be responsible for 30 percent whilst Wisco will have the remaining 70 percent.
The steelworks will produce 5 million tons of steel products per year once it has been concluded.

The joint venture was announced in November, 2009.

The EBX group, which began by mining gold and iron in the 1980s, has focused its activity on the infrastructure and natural resources sector, and its investments are focused on companies MMX (mining), MPX (energy), , OGX (oil and gas), OSX (naval industry) and LLX (logistics), which operates in the port of Açu