Nordic-Light-Jun2014-Aug2014

Sustainable exploration
in the equatorial margin
By Guilherme Mendes
Innovation Norway – Rio Office
of the entire Brazilian coast, and Petrobras, BP and
OGPar are among the companies involved.
Sustainable exploration is one of the hot
topics in the Brazilian oil & gas industry
at the moment, as new oil blocks in the
Brazilian equatorial margin were recently
auctioned.
The Brazilian equatorial margin was
auctioned in the 11th bidding round by Brazil’s
National Petroleum Agency (ANP) in May 2013,
coinciding with the introduction of stricter environmental
licensing regulations. BP acquired eight
deep-water exploration blocks in the Pará-Maranhão
Basin. OGPar (formerly OGX) has blocks in the
Barreirinhas Basin.
The Brazilian Environment Agency (Ibama) will
now demand a specific preparedness and protection
plan, including requirements for fauna reintegration,
together with an implementation strategy.
Simulation exercises will be mandatory during the
pre-operational phase, and Ibama will require the
emergency equipment to be in place prior to giving
the licenses.
These new guidelines represent a larger demand
for information by the operators. The Brazilian Petroleum
Institute (IBP) has developed an extensive map
New requirements
The licensing phase for the equatorial margin will
require a lot of research due to the fact that the region
is still little known. The hydrodynamic model of
the region is likely more complex than what is seen
in other regions. For instance, the wind currents are
strong all year long and the tide variation can reach
up to six meters in the area known as Reentrâncias
Maranhenses.
Initially, Ibama will collect information about the
circulation of the marine currents and it will interpolate
it into regional dimension. The next step will
be to execute an oceanographic survey of the water
column showing what the likely behavior of an oil
spill would be. The work includes monitoring of submarine
currents and deep-water temperature, which
will help mapping the flow of oil and chemicals from
the well to the surface.
The collection of data should be executed by a
consortium in order to dissolve the costs. The operation
will involve chartering of research boats and
anchoring of five to six buoys for monitoring during
up to three years. Furthermore, a new CONAMA
resolution concerning the usage of dispersing agents
is expected by the industry to be implemented early
next year. The operators want this 3D survey to
anticipate the demands by the new regulation.
Ibama understands that the 3D modeling still
needs to be complemented by a consistent characterization
database of the oil produced in the
country. Norway already has a consolidated database,
which serves as reference in many licensing
processes in Brazil.
Challenges
The emergency plans for the equatorial margin
will have to count on a larger amount of floating
42 JUNE - AUGUST 2014