RIO DE JANEIRO—As Brazil continues to attract companies pursuing offshore activities, Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), sees the country with great enthusiasm for its business.

For BHGE, the Brazilian subsea segment also poses technological challenges in the ultradeep waters.

In an exclusive interview with Hart Energy, Adyr Tourinho, BHGE’s oilfield equipment director for Latin America, talked about how the company is positioning itself in Brazil and implementing its technology to help Brazil’s offshore operations.

Q: What are the main advantages and challenges for BHGE in Brazil?

The subsea market in Brazil is on the rise with ultradeep water set to lead the way, which requires new innovative ways of thinking since companies need to go to the limit of operational conditions. This requires us, as a technology company, to constantly think differently, while also keeping safety at the forefront of everything we do. BHGE has been one of the main suppliers in this industry for many years now, giving us expertise in those kinds of environments and providing high success rates.

One of the biggest challenges for operators in those waters are high levels of CO2 concentration, making the industry rethink the way we develop technology, materials and equipment to be sure we provide the proper solutions for our customers while also getting the full potential from the reserves.

Q: How can BHGE’s technology help the oil industry in Brazil?

BHGE has a strong position leading the market in wellheads in the country and we are constantly innovating to bring more solutions to our customers. A good example is in November 2018, we rolled out Subsea Connect, a combination of four key solutions:

Project Connect: Our independent workflow begins with targeted project outcomes, offering customers independent, flexible project assessment and management. The Project Connect approach eliminates project recycle, reduces cost and project overruns and increases speed to final investment decision (FID). BHGE’s unmatched breadth and depth of capability across the value chain enables early engagement at the concept evaluation phase and greater collaboration, transforming project economics.

Reservoir to Topsides Technology Solutions: Our fullstream capability covers all aspects of a development, from the reservoir to the topside. This goes beyond the subsea scope and includes reservoir management, field development, well construction, topside optimization and subsea engineering. Our Aptara TOTEX-lite subsea system includes the lightweight compact tree, modular compact manifold, composite flexible risers, SFX wellhead solution, modular compact pump and subsea connection systems. These technologies are modular, structured, compact and designed to be more responsive to changing conditions across the life of field, cutting total cost of ownership by up to 50%.

Flexible Partnerships and Commercial Models: Our partnership model is flexible and designed to leverage relationships with the most efficient, established partners to meet customers’ needs and improve project economics. BHGE’s innovative commercial solutions, aligned with customer priorities, help to unlock additional value.

Digital Enablement: We are layering critical technologies with next-generation digital solutions to drive greater uptime and enhance productivity.

Q: Can you tell us about technologies developed by BHGE for the subsea segment in Brazil?

Through our fullstream portfolio and flexible partnerships, we are the only company in the world that can connect the entire subsea development process from the concept phase, supporting customers in optimizing, not just the initial capex spend, but the entire life-of-field. No one else can take customers from the wellbore to the seafloor to the topsides. This means we can influence 80% of project development costs and value drivers for the better.

In Brazil specifically, 4.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in unsanctioned projects in 2018 come into play with a 30% reduction in economic development point. Currently, Brazil is considered a Center of Excellence (CoE) in the development and manufacturing of flexible pipe systems. We have a facility in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, and a number of research and development projects going in our Technology Center in the Federal University Technological Park, also in Rio de Janeiro.

Q: Is it possible to say that BHGE’s expertise applied in other regions around the world can help to develop subsea activities in Brazil?

Yes, it is a two-way street. While we get a handful of knowledge from BHGE’s CoE in Bristol (U.K.), we can also send our expertise abroad within the company. For instance, we rely heavily on the equipment that comes from the UK, but we also develop technology here in Brazil of which they can take advantage of. We use our global footprint to change our expectations from abroad. Often we manufacture technology in Brazil for other projects around the world. One example is our christmas trees; they are manufactured in Brazil to service customers in Africa.

Q: How is BHGE dealing with the digitalization era? Can you give us some examples and how the digitalization process developed by BHGE can help offshore operations in Brazil?

With the digital information available, we are able to share more risk, which also can reward us accordingly. At the same time, we are layering critical technologies with next-generation digital solutions to drive greater uptime and enhance productivity.

Our EngageSubsea asset lifecycle management solution is one example. It optimizes the planning, execution and connectivity of subsea projects with live “on the job” offshore activity planning, inventory optimization with remote visibility of equipment and tools, digital access to documentation for enhanced execution, and remote management of asset maintenance. EngageSubsea will drive up to 20% reduction in maintenance costs through detailed forecasting and maintenance schedules and up to 5% reduction in downtime through predictive analytics.

Q: What do you expect for 2019? Is it possible to be more optimistic about this year in terms of new contracts in the country?

The indicators allow us to be positive about the future. In Brazil, the main player is coming back to the market after a while and we expect to have new demand on equipment focusing not only on the new presalt fields but also divesting areas and the entrance of other companies in the country. With that, we see opportunities in the short term and long term and we are excited about what is to come.

Offshore