Snapshot: Petrobras’ new technology, digital investments

Petrobras announced US$102bn in planned capex for 2024-28, an increase of 31% compared with the current investment plan for 2023-27.

In the current program, the company set out US$78bn in investments and earmarked US$2.1bn for digital transformation and innovation. 

In its new plan, of the US$102bn investments stated, Petrobras said it will spend US$3.6bn on research, development and innovation (RD&I), while US$2.1bn will go to initiatives to “eliminate logistical bottlenecks, with the expansion and adaptation of infrastructure, investment in terminals to optimize operations, expansion of [logistics] modes and improvement of efficiency and resilience,” which is also expected to include development and acquisitions of digital solutions.

Specifically in terms of digital technology, the Petrobras' program mentions “new models for reservoirs,” with the use of advanced digital technologies “to provide greater reliability for forecasts.”

Although no details were given, this includes the expansion of its park of supercomputers, or high-performance computing (HPC) machines that are used for seismic processing and reservoir studies.

It also includes taking digital twin implementations to new areas and segments, as revealed exclusively to BNamericas by Everton Schaefer, manager of refining planning, optimization and energy efficiency, and leader of Petrobras' digital twin center of excellence.

CLOUD AND DATACENTERS

With respect to data storage and processing in general, BNamericas has learned that the oil giant is considering repurposing or decommissioning its datacenters, as it advances with cloud migration.

These are very early-stage discussions, but the market could be sounded out on the sites as early as the second half of 2024.

Petrobras has a Tier 3-certified datacenter in Rio de Janeiro, located at its Cenpes R&D and innovation center where the company's main supercomputers are also housed.

Petrobras' strategy for its data management is hybrid – that is, part of its workload is and will continue to be kept at its own data processing premises, while another part, particularly less strategic data, will be migrated to the cloud.

For this year, Petrobras earmarked 240mn reais (US$49mn) in investments in cloud computing initiatives, up 40% from 172mn reais in 2022. 

In 2021, Petrobras launched a cloud computing competence center (CCC) in partnership with AWS and Microsoft, its core cloud partners, to enable enhanced AI applications and analytics, among other things.

Since then, the CCC has reportedly delivered more than 80 solutions and made it possible to update the management system that connects thousands of company processes.

DIGITIZATION FOR DECARBONIZATION

Petrobras' new strategic plan mentions projects for “real-time digitization and optimization for decarbonization,” as part of the oil company's carbon-neutral strategy.

In fact, in the firm's current plan, most of its digital transformation projects revolve around decarbonization more than on just efficiency and productivity gains.

The company's digital projects, either directly or indirectly related to decarbonization, include underwater mini-drones for inspecting assets, 3D printing at offshore platforms, virtual/augmented reality for remote monitoring of offshore platforms and an autonomous robot, called Tupã EX, for operations in dangerous areas and analysis of gas leaks.

Most of these initiatives will be expanded in the new investment cycle for 2024-28. 

For scope 3 emissions (supply chain), Petrobras talks about "active search and supply of technologies for operational decarbonization.”

In the case of digital twins, the bulk of the new deployments will go to renewable assets and projects, Schaefer previously told BNamericas. 

The company has also been working with partners on new applications based on AI.

In its 2023-27 plan, Petrobras said it was aiming to have 80% of its processes digitized by 2027, with a focus on robotization processes, reaching 185 "digital workers", or robotic automatic processes, leading to over 850,000 hours of productivity per year.

STARTUPS

Petrobras is also expected to accelerate the launch of calls for startups to develop solutions in the open innovation model.

Divided into modules, the startup program Conexões para Inovação brings together different ways of developing, testing or commercializing technologies with Petrobras.

In 2022, more than 100 challenges were launched through the program and more than 60 partnerships were signed, surpassing 140mn reais in investments contracted, according to Petrobras.