Petrobras and SINTEF have signed a General Research and Development agreement on Thursday as a part of the Innovation NorwayBrazil Day at ONS here. The executive manager of Cenpes (Petrobras R&D center), Carlos Tadeu, and CEO of SINTEF, Unni Steinsmo, signed the agreement. The oil & gas industry in Brazil represents one of the fastest growing petroleum regions in the world. The specific deep water offshore challenges are well suited for SINTEFs oil and gas related competences. SINTEF is Scandinavia's largest, independent research organization, with top-level expertise in oil and gas technology. SINTEF and its subsidiary Marintek has for more than 20 years performed contract research for Petrobras, and has been represented with an office in Rio de Janeiro since 2007 (Marintek do Brasil Ltda). The office will later this year be accompanied by a new foundation, Instituto SINTEF do Brazil. This will strengthen the presence of SINTEF in the region, giving a clear message that SINTEF wants to grow and settle in one of the world's fastest growing economies. The purpose of the agreement is to formalize the cooperative conditions for a growing future collaboration, within specific R&D areas, mainly Petroleum Technology, Ocean Engineering, Environmental Technology and Materials Technology. Following the entrance of the R&D Cooperation Agreement, dedicated workshops for project development will be held, bonding the research groups of Petrobras and SINTEF closer to each other. Last month, CGGVeritas announced that it has signed a technology cooperation agreement (TCA) with Petrobras for the collaborative development and implementation of new technologies in the field of Geophysics. The TCA sets the framework for collaborative research projects between Petrobras and CGGVeritas over a three-year time period in specific areas such as 4D seismic processing, imaging and reservoir geophysics. These research projects will be conducted at a recently opened CGGVeritas Technology Center in Rio de Janeiro. The TCA was signed by Robert Brunck, chairman and CEO of CGGVeritas, at the inauguration ceremony for this new Technology Center. The Rio Technology Center is designed to offer oil and gas operators in Brazil direct access to geophysical technology developed or customized by a dedicated R&D team focused on solving local geophysical challenges. The Rio Technology Center is also developing partnerships with top universities recognized in Brazil as leaders in advanced geophysical studies such as the State University of Campinas, the Federal University of Par?, and the State University of North Fluminense. Robert Brunck, chairman and CEO of CGGVeritas, said: “We are extremely honored to sign this Technology Cooperation Agreement with Petrobras, a leading energy provider to whom we have had the privilege of providing seismic acquisition and processing services since 1961. We look forward to building on this successful partnership and widening our technical cooperation through the joint pursuit of strategic R&D projects for the development of innovative, customized technologies that will improve the understanding of the geological challenges prevalent here in Brazil and the wider Latin America region.”
