SLB, a global technology company for the energy industry, inaugurated its Decommissioning Center of Excellence this Thursday (01/29) in downtown Rio de Janeiro. The initiative aims to drive integrated solutions for the safe and efficient closure of oil wells, the removal of subsea equipment, and the deactivation of offshore assets.
The Managing Director of SLB Brasil, Thomas Filiponi, emphasized that the creation of the Center reinforces the company’s commitment to the sustainable development of the energy industry in the country by encouraging collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the construction of solutions for increasingly complex operations.
“The Center represents a new chapter for SLB in Brazil, built on collaboration, responsibility, and a vision for the future. Decommissioning is a strategic issue for the country, and our commitment is to help ensure that this process is carried out with safety, efficiency, and environmental responsibility,” he stated.
The Center of Excellence will bring together strategic companies from the sector to develop technologies that increase operational efficiency and reduce decommissioning costs, a topic that is gaining relevance in light of the expected deactivation of dozens of platforms in the coming years.
Among the confirmed partners are OneSubsea, SLB’s subsea solutions joint venture with Aker Solutions; Helix, which will contribute vessels, robotics, and specialized services in well intervention and decommissioning; Subsea7, also a partner of OneSubsea; Foresea, focused on the development of integrated solutions with vessels and associated services, with which SLB maintains a collaboration agreement; as well as Archer and THREE60 Energy, global energy services companies.
“By bringing strategic partners together in the same space, we strengthen an ecosystem based on proximity, the constant exchange of experiences, and the combination of technical skills. Brazil has all the conditions to play a leading role in offshore decommissioning, and this Center is being created to enhance that role”, explained Filiponi.
According to the Director, decommissioning in Brazil involves technical challenges above the global average, due to the complex subsea infrastructure installed over the past decades. For him, the Center also assumes the responsibility of supporting clients in critical decisions and of working in an integrated manner with regulatory agencies, the market, and society.
The Brazilian market is one of the largest in the world in terms of the volume of structures to be decommissioned. SLB estimates that more than 420 wells will have to be closed in the coming years, a process that includes the retrieval of around 2 thousand kilometers of flexible lines.
The ceremony was attended by representatives of partner companies and authorities from the sector. At the opening, the following spoke: the national secretary for Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Renato Dutra; the director-general of the National Agency for Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), Artur Watt Neto; Petrobras’ executive director for Engineering, Technology and Innovation, Renata Baruzzi; the president of the Brazilian Institute of Oil, Gas and Biofuels (IBP), Roberto Ardenghy; Shell’s director of Operated Assets in Brazil, Prithipal Singh; and the president of SLB Americas, Carmem Rando Bejar.
The inauguration also featured an experience: a visit to the “Drive into this Journey” tunnel and an immersion in the stages of decommissioning with the presentation of the technologies of each of the SLB partners, among which is ROBIN – an autonomous equipment for interventions in subsea oil wells, developed by SLB in partnership with Petrobras.
With the new Center of Excellence, SLB reinforces its commitment to innovation, operational safety, and the sustainability of the offshore industry, contributing to the evolution of modern and economically viable decommissioning practices in the country.
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