Petrobras Brazil News

Offshore drilling rig reactivations have begun as utilization and dayrates continue their rapid recovery, Esgian's Teresa Wilkie writes.We expected it to happen just not necessarily this soon. But now it’s official, several cold-stacked rigs are about to be reactivated for new jobs in the Golden Triangle, and Valaris is taking the lead. Just last week, the driller confirmed that it will reactivate 6th generation, ultra-deepwater drillship Valaris DS-4 for a minimum 580-day deal with Petrobras Brazil.

In December Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor Corporation (MCO), a Group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) based in Hiroshima, will establish a new company in Brazil in a joint venture with Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), to be known as MHI Compressor do Brasil Ltda. (MCO-B). Creation of the new entity, which will launch commercial operations in February 2016, is targeted at developing the Latin American market for compressors, with a focus on expanding sales of compressors for use in Floating Production, Storage and Offloading systems (FPSO), a market expected to see robust demand as Brazil develops deepwater oil fields. Initially MCO-B will perform sales and after-sale servicing functions, with local manufacturing capability targeted for the future.

Brazil has told Dutch SBM Offshore NV, the world's top oil production ship leaser, to agree soon to a $250 million bribery settlement if it wants to regain its biggest client in the world's largest oilship market, a government source told Reuters. The ultimatum gives SBM several days to sign a leniency deal that includes financial reparation and other clauses such as cooperation with a corruption investigation. The settlement, which has been under negotiation for months, would lift a ban on the Amsterdam-based firm from bidding for new business with Petrobras, Brazil's state-run oil company. A spokeswoman for SBM declined to comment on the ongoing discussions with Brazilian authorities.

Compagnie Maritime Monégasque SAM (CMM) has secured contracts with Petrobras Brazil to charter five newbuild fast oil spill response vessels (OSRVs) with a new fuel-efficient Damen axe-bow design. CMM has secured contracts with Petrobras to charter five newbuild fast oil spill response vessels using a new fuel-efficient Sea Axe design by Damen Shipyards Group, allowing the vessel to reach offshore oil platforms in half the time it takes traditional oil spill response vessels. Three vessels will start operating by end of December 2015 and two by end of June 2016.

If and when Brazil gets its maritime act together, oh what a shipbuilding market force it could be. The modern Brazilian shipbuilding industry was established in the 1960s, induced by a broad and effective governmental policy. The 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of the merchant marine and shipbuilding industry in Brazil. The creation of the “Merchant Marine Fund” and the “Tax for the Merchant Marine Renewal,” in 1958, together with other specific targets set by the government at that time, made investments available to the shipbuilding industry and for the development of the merchant marine in general. Counting on such incentives, new shipyards such as Ishibras and Verolme were built…

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) says it has decided to establish a ship-owning joint venture with Norway's Viken Shipping AS  to participate in a shuttle tanker project. The joint company is called Viken MOL AS, and will be managed from Viken Shipping's office in Bergen. The initial investment by the joint company will be the acquisition of a company belonging to the Viken Shipping Group, which owns five crude oil shuttle tankers currently serving on long-term charter contract with Petrobras Transporte S.A. of Brazil (Transpetro), a wholly owned petroleum and gas transport subsidiary Petrobras, Brazil's national oil company. MOL and Viken Shipping share an ambition to develop long term cooperation through Viken MOL AS…

Profit at Petrobras, Brazil's state-led oil company, could be reduced by $15 billion between 2014 and 2018 if it had to suspend oil platform contracts with Holland's SBM Offshore NV, the company said in a securities filing. The potential reduction in profit is based on an estimate of the amount of lost oil and natural gas output and additional spending needed if Petrobras had to stop using the floating oil production platforms leased from SBM, it said in the Saturday filing. The estimate was made in response to a request by Brazil's Office of the Comptroller General (CGU), Petrobras said in the filing. The CGU is the Brazilian federal-government agency responsible for the protection of public property.

In an effort to spread out oil and gas production to other parts of the country and increase overall oil production, Brazil has finally intensified hydrocarbon exploration along its northeastern and northern coasts. These are some of the poorest regions in the country and infrastructure for oil and gas exploration is minimal, yet significant discoveries and seismic indicators of large reservoirs are tantalizing and have attracted major local and foreign investors. Potential for oil discoveries in the area is proven, yet players will be faced by many challenges offshore and on land in order to uncork reservoirs at the Northern Frontier.

OOS International B.V., a company providing offshore accommodation services, announced that with support from CIMC Capital it has secured a four-plus-four-year charter contract for two semisubmersible crane and accommodation platforms for Petrobras Brazil. OOS International has scheduled the delivery of the two vessels to Petrobras at the start 2014. The OOS Gretha DP3 can accommodate 618 persons on board and sister vessel the OOS Prometheus can accommodate 500 persons on board.

Brazil’s Libra pre-salt field, in Block SS-AUP1 in the Santos Basin, with estimated recoverable oil volumes of 8-12 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) and in place volumes of between 25-40 billion BOE, was the country’s first pre-salt field to be auctioned. The rules governing this historical auction have been shunned by important super-majors such as Exxon Mobil, Chevron and BP and also by major players such as the BG Group and Statoil. Many industry analysts were surprised that state-owned players from China, India and Malaysia dominated the list of companies that have agreed to the controversial terms imposed by the Brazilian government, through its National Petroleum Agency (ANP).

In its latest subsea vessels report Douglas-Westwood (DW) forecast more than $100b of expenditure on subsea vessel operations over the next five years – with global demand is expected to increase by 23%. The increase in expenditure is expected to be higher than the growth in vessel days, due to the move towards higher specification vessels to cater for deeper and more complicated field development programs. Dayrates for high specification dive support vessels (DSV) and multipurpose support vessels (MSV) are expected to increase by over 40% by 2017.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries is to build hull parts of the first of 6 drillship for Estaleiro Enseada Do Paraguaçu (EEP) of Bahia State, Brazil. The vessel is the first of six ordered by Sete Brasil (Brazilian investment company in the oil & gas industry), which will be chartered by Petrobras (Brazil's state-owned oil company). After the drillship’s hull parts are completed at Kawasaki’s Sakaide Shipyard, they will be transported to EEP for installation of other segments, such as the topside equipment, and will be delivered to the owner, a strategy that was also agreed with the drillship owner.

Caveats and some doubts remain. Marine companies along the Gulf of Mexico will be busy in 2013 producing offshore vessels to meet expected growth in the region’s deepwater drilling sector over the next several years. Vessel repairs will be active too. Worker training will be stepped up to address a skilled labor shortage. And nearly three years after BP’s spill off coastal Louisiana, safety will remain a priority. But with the nation teetering on a fiscal cliff – which may spur tax increases and government spending cuts – demand for official and military vessels could be affected…

Houston - FMC Technologies Inc. announced that it has signed a four-year agreement with Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company, for the supply of pre-salt subsea equipment. The total award would result in approximately $1.5 billion in revenue to FMC Technologies if all of the subsea equipment included in the agreement is ordered. The initial call-off has an approximate value of $900 million in revenue to FMC and includes 78 subsea trees. FMC’s total scope of supply could include the delivery of up to 130 subsea trees, subsea multiplex controls and related tools and equipment. The tree systems are for use in offshore Brazil in water depths up to 8,200 feet (2,500 meters).

MAN Diesel has announced a series of significant orders for its two-stroke, electronic ME-engines in Brazil. The new engines will be delivered to Petrobras and Vale. Petrobras Brazil’s multinational energy company, has ordered 10 × 6S70ME-C engines to power a new generation of Suezmax tankers as part of a massive fleet-renewal programme. The Petrobras engines will be constructed by Doosan Engine in Korea with the ships being built at the new Estaleiro Atlântico Sul (EAS) shipyard.

AMEC announced that it has been selected by Brazilian company QUIP to perform basic engineering services for the topsides of the P-63 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, to be operated on behalf of Petrobras, Brazil’s national oil company. The contract, the value of which has not been announced, begins immediately and will run until mid-2010. The P63 FPSO will develop the Papa Terra heavy oil field in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil. The field is located about 68 miles (110 kilometers) off Rio de Janeiro in water depths of up to 3,940 feet (1,200 meters). “We are very pleased to continue our collaboration with QUIP and Petrobras,” said Terri Ivers, president of AMEC’s Houston-based oil and gas business.