Petrobras / Cenpes executive manager Orlando Ribeiro said today, at the opening of the fourth edition of O&G TechWeek, the main oil and gas technology event, that the company is considering opening new calls for startups dedicated to innovation in the sector. . According to him, contracts with the first ten companies that are being selected in partnership with Sebrae should be signed soon. New initiatives should involve other partners, such as Finep.

"Startups will make a difference," he said in explaining interest in partnerships.

Ribeiro also stated that Petrobras has participated in discussions with regulatory agencies to free research and development resources to allow the innovation cycle to accelerate. "We have great potential for innovation through existing technologies and the innovation pipeline," he said, noting that major disruptive innovations generally involve process and business changes.

Milton Costa Filho, Secretary General of the Brazilian Institute of Oil, Gas and Biofuels (IBP), organizer of the event, stressed at the opening that new technologies will be essential for the sector to reach its goals and double oil and gas production by 2030.

"The ANP estimates a potential of 60 FPSOs (floating oil and gas production unit) over the next decade to meet production demand. Imagine the amount of technology that will be needed in these structures," he warned.

According to Milton, IBP has created a digital transformation council to act with the Institute's technical committees focused on technology and to leverage this digital transformation in the various segments of the oil and gas chain. In addition, through UnIBP - University of the Oil, Gas and Biofuels Sector, it is also working on training professionals who meet the new demands. "We have the challenge of training human capital to transform the industry," he said.

World Petroleum Council (WPC) representative Gerardo Uria, TechWeek's partner, acknowledged that integrating digitization into industry processes is a big challenge, but stressed that technology is moving fast and you need to be prepared. "We live in an interconnected world and our operations need to benefit from it."

The O&G Techweek 2019 takes place from today (26) to Thursday (30), at AQWA Corporate, in Rio de Janeiro's port region with lectures, technology rounds, hackathons and ideation sessions.

TechWeek is sponsored by Petrobras, Tishman Speyer, Startup Factory, Repsol Sinopec, Siemens, Aker Solutions, Aveva, Deloitte, Hexagon, KPMG, Pepperl + Fuchs, Petronet, PwC and Innovaphone.

See the full event schedule at http://www.ogtechweek.com.br