With the oil and gas market heating up in Brazil, many foreign service providers are looking to establish themselves in Brazil with an eye on new opportunities.
Although the main attraction of the South American country continues to be exploration and production (E&P) in the post-salt and pre-salt areas, other significant opportunities will be offered. One niche will be the decommissioning of various offshore structures, from decommissioned subsea infrastructure to rigging legs for rusted entire platforms and floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) units.
As many of Brazil's offshore production units are aging, especially in the Campos Basin, decommissioning in Brazil will be an important market that will last for decades. Of the more than 160 offshore production platforms in Brazil, 67 have been in operation for over 25 years and will soon need to be decommissioned. Another 24 probes are between 15 and 25 years old and around 70 probes are less than 15 years old.
Some of the decommissioning areas that will be in demand include the fixed disposal of oil platforms; creation of artificial reefs, abandonment of wells, removal of pipelines, FPSO and floating storage and offloading unit (FSO) and removal of risers / flow lines, management of waste and effluents for exploration and production activities, environmental licensing for projects of decommissioning, preparation of decommissioning plans, submarine decommissioning and engineering dismantling of offshore structures and ballast water and bioinvasion. The new market existing in Brazil's offshore industry will certainly attract foreign companies with experience in dismantling subsea production units and systems.
The National Petroleum Agency (ANP) is in the process of revising guidance on issues related to decommissioning, including the revision of ANP Resolution No. 27/2006, and the decommissioning process should begin in earnest once these revised guidelines are implemented. established. The revision of the ANP Resolution will present new obligations for operators that can flow to services associated with the search for innovative technical solutions, engineering studies, risk analysis and socio-environmental assessments, inspection and monitoring services and waste management solutions.
EAS Shipyard – Brazil
The availability of ships, port facilities and support, waste management chain (including NORM / TENORM) may be restrictions on dismantling, depending on the demand for projects that will be presented for the next few years. Possibly, new demands for services will arise due to government incentives to reuse facilities for purposes other than those related to the oil and gas industry, such as artificial reefs (old vessels and ships can be used together with platform structures, once decontaminated. ), generation of wind, wave and tidal energy, tourism, research, among other possibilities.
Considering the nascent phase of the decommissioning industry in Brazil, collaborative efforts between operators, service industry representatives, universities and government are imperative and can be beneficial to all parties involved.
Petrobras has submitted a small number of decommissioning projects for ANP's assessment. The state-owned company also issued a request for information (RFI) to companies specializing in decommissioning projects. More than 100 companies from various countries around the world responded to Petrobras' RFI. The auction date has yet to be seen.
Industry sources estimate that Petrobras will need to decommission at least 67 units in the short to medium term. As this new challenge arises in Brazil's offshore sector, global companies with offshore/subsea decommissioning experience looking for new business can be encouraged to explore business opportunities in the country, with the possibility of a new horizon with less government interference, less taxation of environmental licensing and with government and regulatory support.
Some of the facility decommissioning programs under review at SSM*/ANP:
- P-07 (Bicudo – Semi-submersible)
- P-12 (Flounder - Semi-submersible)
- P-15 (Piraúna – Semi-submersible)
- P-33 (Marlim – FPSO)
- FPSO City of Rio de Janeiro (Espadarte)
- Spirit FPSO Piranema (Piranema)
Some of the installations disable programs approved by the ANP:
- FPSO Brazil (Roncador Field)
- FPSO Marlim Sul (Campo Marlim Sul)
- Dogfish Field (three rigs)
