Brazil oilfield reveals local sourcing problem

The Peregrino field operated in the Atlantic Ocean near Rio de Janeiro by Statoil is a throwback to the past when it comes to its local content requirements

The Peregrino field operated in the Atlantic Ocean near Rio de Janeiro by Statoil, Norway’s state-run oil company, is a state-of-the-art operation.

The field’s platform, the latest model of a “floating, production, storage and offloading” unit capable of processing oil and storing it, was built in China and Singapore last year. It is the most expensive yet commissioned by contractor Maersk FPSOs, with a price tag of more than $1bn.

But despite the Brazilian government’s ambitious push to increase the local content of equipment used in its oil industry, Peregrino is a throwback to the past. The field’s local content requirement is only about 35 per cent and consists mostly of wells and other underwater infrastructure. “In the beginning we looked to build [the floating platform] here but there was no capacity,” says an engineer at Maersk FPSOs.

The project, which started to operate in April, illustrates the challenges facing Brazil as it tries to increase local content requirements for new production fields to 77 per cent.

Brazil’s state-run operator Petrobras is investing $224bn between 2010 and 2014 to develop its huge “pre-salt” discoveries, lying below a two-kilometre deep salt layer under the seabed.

The vast potential of deepwater discoveries in Brazil is changing the profile of global oil companies, BG Group’s doubling of its oil reserves being one example. The discoveries are also attracting numerous other multinationals specialising in research and development and oilfield services. Bain & Co this week announced the opening of its Rio office, which will specialise in oil and gas.

For most of the operators in Brazil, the chief hurdle will be how to negotiate increasing requirements for local content in a country that lacks the capacity to cope with the enormous demands of the coming decade. “Local content is going to be a huge issue,” says Pedro Cordeiro, a partner at Bain.

The biggest strain is expected to be on Brazil’s local shipbuilding industry. Petrobras alone is ordering a small navy of vessels. This month it placed an order for 21 drilling ships on top of seven already ordered. Last year Petrobras and its partners BG Group, Galp Energia and Repsol signed two contracts for the construction of hulls for eight floating platforms, or FPSOs, with Brazilian infrastructure firm Engevix Engenharia.

The challenge for Brazil is that its shipyards have not built FPSOs before. According to a report from consultancy Wood Mackenzie, Brazil will need 100 new oil platforms over the next decade, nearly half of them for Petrobras.

Of the 40 shipyards in Brazil, only four are believed to be capable of building FPSOs, the consultancy says. Some of the biggest names in shipbuilding, including South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries and Singapore’s Keppel, are participating. But it will take time for them to retool to undertake such a complex project as building a floating platform.

The need for more capacity has also led to a rush of proposals to build new shipyards in Brazil, with foreign investors such as Hyundai teaming up with Brazilian companies, such as OSX, controlled by the country’s richest man, Eike Batista.

“Brazil could more than double its offshore facility construction capability, and crucially this capacity increase will include FPSO fabrication,” says the Wood Mackenzie report.

But the question is whether capacity can be ramped up quickly enough and at reasonable cost. Petrobras is already coming under pressure from the government to curb costs amid signs it will need even more investment than expected to develop pre-salt.

Experts on local content say the challenge for the government is to “optimise” its local requirements. Flat targets for local content will reduce unemployment but not necessarily ensure the long-term success of the industry.

The best measure of whether the policy is succeeding will be the success rate of Brazilian shipyards and contractors in international open tenders, says Michael Warner, director of UK-based consultancy Local Content Solutions.

“Obligations to use less experienced local contractors may risk delaying the date at which a field produces oil or gas, potentially deferring hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues for both investors and for use by the host government,” he adds.

At Peregrino, engineers agree that Brazil and Petrobras have their work cut out in sourcing enough local content for pre-salt. Asked about Petrobras’ order for the eight FPSOs, one engineer says: “That is very courageous.”

A Brazilian insider who was finance director at the world’s second-largest mining company has been appointed chief financial officer at BG Group, the UK-based oil and gas company that is expanding in Latin America.

Ashley Almanza, BG’s long-serving finance chief, will step down in March but continue with the company for up to two years. He will transition to a lower-key job overseeing the delivery of projects in which he was involved.

Fabio de Oliveira Barbosa, the Rio de Janeiro-based finance director at Vale until June this year, will take over. “It is intended that Mr Barbosa will join the board as chief financial officer on March 31, 2011 [the day Mr Almanza steps down],” BG said in a statement.

The appointment comes as BG pours capital in to the development of Brazilian offshore oil and gasfields in the Santos basin. The basin’s potential as one of the world’s top new offshore sources of oil and gas has been emphasised over the past year amid new discoveries.

BG is minority partner in several Santos basin fields alongside larger partner and operator Petrobras, the state oil company. But BG estimates its share of the Santos basin’s reserves and resources could be 3bn equivalent barrels of oil.

The UK gas provider also has a controlling stake in Comgas, Brazil’s largest gas provider.

Mr Barbosa was the chief civil servant in Brazil’s treasury before joining Vale in 2002. Alongside Roger Agnelli, Vale’s long-serving chief executive, Mr Barbosa witnessed the transformation of the former Compania Vale de Rio Doce (CVRD) from a privatised Brazilian business in to an international mining powerhouse.

Vale is the world’s biggest producer of iron ore with a market capitalisation of $170bn, compared to BG’s £45bn.

“Brazil is expected to be transformational for BG Group,” said Jason Kenney, oil analyst at ING in London, “providing notable volume momentum and valuation leverage mid-decade as development progresses.”

He added: “We see the proposed CFO change out as potentially positive for BG, particularly given the Brazilian influence and insight that Mr. Barbosa is expected to bring to the company.”

Mr Almanza will focus on “strategic projects” such as Karachaganak, a huge gasfield in Kazakhstan, where he is involved in bringing negotiations to a close, a company representative said.

Frank Chapman, chief executive, praised Mr Almanza’s “tremendous commitment and contribution”. He noted that Mr Almanza has indicated his desire to leave the company after serving as finance director for eight years.

Mr Barbosa is awaiting a UK visa before being appointed to the BG board.