Schlumberger Inaugurates Brazil Research and Geoengineering Center

Offshore staff

RIO DE JANEIRO— Schlumberger has inaugurated a new research and geoengineering center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Brazil Research and Geoengineering Center is designed to promote the integration of geosciences and engineering to improve hydrocarbon production and recovery from the complex deepwater reservoirs and pre-salt carbonates offshore Brazil.

“We are very excited to be opening this new center here in Rio de Janeiro,” said Ana Zambelli, Brazil GeoMarket manager, Schlumberger. “Future oil and gas production will increasingly lie in technically complex environments such as pre-salt carbonates and deepwater areas and we expect this facility, the first multinational research center in Brazil, to play an important role in responding to these and other demanding technical challenges.”

The new center includes a Geoengineering Research Center, a Geoengineering Technology Center, and a GeoSolutions Hub in addition to a number of Reservoir Laboratories. Each element fills a key need in deepwater and pre-salt reservoir exploration and development.

The Research Center, which is designed to work in close collaboration with both customers and academia, will conduct research and development to improve industry understanding of pre-salt formations and their optimal development, the company said. The Geoengineering Technology Center will pursue geoscience workflows using state-of-the-art Ocean application development and Petrel seismic-to-simulation software. Regional solutions to the integration of data from seismic and other techniques will be developed in the WesternGeco GeoSolutions Hub while three Reservoir Laboratories provide the facilities to test and evaluate reservoir rocks and fluids under controlled conditions for multiple applications including well construction and reservoir stimulation.

The Brazil Research and Geoengineering Center covers 10,000 sq m in floor area, and is the first such Schlumberger facility in the southern hemisphere. When fully staffed, up to 300 scientists, engineers, and technical staff working in multidisciplinary, collaborative teams will work on the development of innovative solutions to the technical challenges associated with the complex formations found deep offshore Brazil, Schlumberger said. Continuing a theme that now runs across all Schlumberger research centers, the company said, the new Brazil facility is located close to the leading academic expertise of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and is located on the same campus that houses the Petrobras CENPES Research Center.

Schlumberger has operated in Brazil since 1945, offering technology solutions to local oil and gas industry challenges. Today the company manages its operations from 12 locations across the country and employees a total of more than 2,000 people in Brazil.

11/16/2010