The 21st edition of the World Petroleum Congress (WPC), the oil industry’s largest global event, closed in Moscow last thursday (June 19th).In the last panel discussion involving Petrobras executives, the company’s Exploration general manager, Jeferson Luiz Dias, participated in the roundtable "How should we optimize cycle time from exploration to production?" and gave a presentation on the company’s strategy for reducing the time between discovery and production start up. Optimization of the process allows the company to bring forward project revenues. He explained that, to make this possible, Petrobras has adopted a series of measures in its pre-salt projects while still in the exploratory phase, thus enabling the company to bring forward its production development projects.

The reduction in the average time between discovery of the field and the first extraction of oil can be seen in comparison with the projects utilized in other Brazilian deepwater areas. Mr. Dias pointed out that, "The average duration went from 72 months to 35 months for recent projects, using this strategy. It really is a very impressive reduction. We can say we have achieved our goals, reducing the time and bringing the cash flow forward, in our latest project production".

Petrobras executives discussed the key industry issues on panels and in lectures and roundtables at the 21st edition of the WPC. The conference, which is held every three years, brings together government ministers and company CEOs from over 80 different countries.

Company presented its efforts aimed at innovation and the development and sustainability of the sector

On June 17th, José Alcides Santoro Martins, Petrobras’ director of Gas & Energy, participated in the discussion panel on "The role of industry in promoting development", in which he drew attention to the company’s planned investment of US$220.6 billion for the period 2014-2018 and the prospect of doubling the current oil production by 2020, when it will reach 4.2 million barrels of oil a day. He said that, "Various development indices have improved in the country over the last decade and the oil and gas sector has played a positive role in that".

On June 16th, Paulo Sergio Rodrigues Alonso, advisor to the Petrobras CEO on local content and executive coordinator of Prominp (National Oil and Gas Sector Mobilization Program), presided over the forum "Securing the supply of equipment, materials and infrastructure with local content". Mr. Alonso painted a picture of the local content policies around the world and emphasized that they must not be protectionist, but provide incentives. He stated that, "There is no doubt that the primary purpose of an effective local content policy is to promote the participation of domestic industry, on a sustainable and competitive basis, in oil and gas projects. Government policies must be encouraging, not protectionist".

Also on the 16th, Anelise Lara, Petrobras’ executive manager for the Libra field, participated in the special session "The next wave of innovation in oil exploration and production" and used the example of the Brazilian pre-salt layer to talk about innovation. She emphasized that the technologies applied, from reservoir imaging to the development of the production units, helped to raise production tenfold over the last four years, as well as reducing the costs. She explained that, "We saw considerable cost savings in the drilling and completion of wells, for example. And that is a big gain, because the wells receive almost 50% of the total project investment. If we compare the present situation with the start of the exploratory phase, we have reduced the drilling and completion time in the pre-salt layer by 40% to 50%". On June 17th, Ms. Lara participated in the discussion panel on "Deepwater exploration and production", in which she emphasized that "the cumulative production from the pre-salt layer, between September 2008 and April 2014, attained 343 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent (boe)".

Milas Evangelista, Petrobras Biocombustível’s director for Ethanol, was also present at the WPC and emphasized the benefits of using biofuels to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and improve the quality of the air in major cities. On the same day (June 17th), Petrobras Exploration general manager Jeferson Luiz Dias spoke about the company's investments in exploration and production, which will amount to US$ 153.9 billion over the period 2014-2018.

Other participants in the event were Sylvia Angels, Petrobras general manager for Geology Applied to Exploration, who on June 15th gave a talk about "Women in the oil industry. A view from Petrobras - Brazil" and Rosane Aguiar Figueiredo, Petrobras’ Social Investments manager, who on June 18th gave a presentation on the Petrobras Social and Environmental Program.

Petrobras was also represented on the WPC Youth Committee, where Jaime Naveiro, Sapinhoá project manager in Petrobras Exploration and Production, is currently the committee vice-president. He gave Petrobras presentations to groups of young people from around the world, on the mornings of June 17th and 18th.