Brazil's Petrobras eyes savings of US$154mn with use of 'digital twins'

Brazil's state-run oil firm Petrobras expects to save around US$154mn this year with efficiency gains related to the use of the “digital twins” technology.

The savings would be over two times more than in 2019.

Digital twins involves the development of a digital replica of every field, including reservoirs, wells and subsea systems, to reduce the need for physical interventions, support analysis and predict possible scenarios.

“The application of the digital twin technology allows us to evaluate and modify operational parameters almost in real time, bringing operational gains and process optimization,” Petrobras’ refining and natural gas director Anelise Lara said in the Q2 earnings call.

The model is already implemented in 11 of Petrobras’ 15 refineries: REFAP, REPAR, RECAP, RPBC, REVAP, REPLAN, REDUC, REGAP, RNEST, LUBNOR and REMAN.

The only refineries that do not yet have the technology are Comperj, SIX (shale industrialization unit) and the Abreu e Lima and Potiguar Clara Camarão refineries.

Digital twin associated technologies are IoT sensors and data analysis with artificial intelligence and big data.

The main gains for the O&G industry include the reduction of unscheduled stoppages, the integration of equipment data, the indication of better positioning for wells and the suggestion of preventive actions, among others.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

The application of digital twins falls under the company's broader digitization strategy.

“Digital transformation is key to our future as an agile and efficient company and is being accelerated on several fronts,” CEO Roberto Castello Branco told analysts and investors in the call.

As part of the digitization initiatives, the company is implementing 94 RPAs (robotic process automations) to replace workers allocated to perform manual and repetitive processes.

The company also said that its computing capacity was multiplied by almost seven relative to 2018 to support digital transformation and artificial intelligence.

The oil giant has two so-called “supercomputers” dedicated to high-capacity processing. 

Considered the most powerful supercomputer in Latin America, Santos Dumont is in the National Laboratory for Scientific Computing (LNCC) in Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro.

Meanwhile OGBON, which is operated in partnership with the Center for Integrated Manufacturing and Technology (Senai-Cimatec) is installed in Salvador.

In the last months, part of their capacity has been shared to run drug and vaccine development research in the context of the pandemic in partnership with local universities and scientific institutions and with Stanford University’s chemistry department in the US.

R&D AND CAPEX

In the first six months of this year, Petrobras spent US$163mn on research and development, a decrease of 42.6% from the same period in 2019. Of this total, US$103mn corresponded to the exploration and production area.

Petrobras’s total capex amounted to US$4bn year-to-June, down 8.3% in the period, due to the depreciation of the real and adjustments for the year because of the pandemic, according to the company.