Petrobras Research Center (Cenpes) engineer Marcos Assayag, will receive the Distinguished Achievement Award for Individuals, the maximum honor bestowed by the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC), the world's biggest offshore oil industry event, held from April 30 to May 3, in Houston, Texas, USA.

Awards are granted in two categories during the OTC: one for companies, the other for people who stand out for their contributions to the industry. In 1992, Petrobras was granted the Distinguished Achievement Award for Organizations, for the technologies applied in the Marlim Field, in the Campos Basin, northern Rio de Janeiro coast. In 2001, the technologies used in the Roncador Field rendered the company the award one more time.

In 2007, Petrobras' participation highlights the company's experience using FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading) type platforms. The Brazilian oil company is the one that uses FPSOs the most in the world and, in December 2006, it was the first one to get the American government's authorization to use this type of platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, during the OTC the company will showcase projects relative to the Espirito Santo Basin, Petrobras' new wager to boost oil, and, mainly natural gas production in Brazil.

Awards

The current General Manager for Cenpe's Basic Engineering, Marcos Assayag was named by the OTC's Awards Committee for his contribution to the development of technologies intended to produce oil in deep and ultra-deep waters, an area Petrobras is one of the global leaders in.

The engineer coordinated, from 1989 to 2002, the Technological Capability Program in Explotation Systems for Deep Waters (PROCAP 1000), and its extension, the Advanced Program for Technological Innovation and Development in Deep and Ultra-deep Waters (PROCAP 2000). In 2000, he was assigned to coordinate the PROCAP 3000, the Corporate Technological Development Program for Ultra-Deep Water Explotation. Assayag is currently in charge of Basic Engineering, responsible to design oil platforms, refineries, petrochemical plants and natural gas units.

FPSO in the Gulf of Mexico

One of the main highlights of the technical papers Petrobras submitted to the OTC is the usage of FPSO (Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading - oil tankers adapted to operate as oil production platforms). In December 2006, Petrobras received unprecedented approval from the Mineral Management Service (the American government's agency that administers oil, natural gas and other mineral resources in the American maritime continental platform) to use an FPSO-type unit in the Gulf of Mexico.

The company proposed the use of six new technologies which have not yet been applied in the American sector of the Gulf of Mexico, including an FPSO equipped with a disconnectable anchoring system that allows the unit to be removed during hurricanes and other storms. By using new technologies, Petrobras will be able to speed-up Cascade and Chinook field development, and production is slated to commence there in 2009. Petrobras has an extensive, proven track record in FPSO use in Brazilian waters since 1979, where 12 units are currently in operation.

The plan foresees installing and operating an FPSO at water depths of approximately 2,500 meters. In the first phase, two submarine wells in Cascade and one in Chinook, each at a depth of nearly 8,200 meters, will be interconnected. Oil and gas production will be offloaded by relief vessels and via a gas pipeline, respectively. Depending on reservoir behavior, new wells may be interconnected in the future.