Page 15 - LatAmOil Week 22

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Rigs at Petrobras-operated fields offshore Brazil (Photo: Petrobras)
It named the foreign companies as Perenco (UK/ said that Perenco had registered around 40
France), Equinor (Norway) and Royal Dutch cases at its Pargo field. Dommo, they added, has
Shell (UK/Netherlands) and the Brazilian firms recorded approximately 50 cases at a well at its
as Dommo Energia and Enauta Participacoes. Tubarao Martelo field that has been paralysed
So far, Shell and Enauta Participacoes have since early May.
fared the best, reporting only one case apiece. By Oil workers’ unions in Brazil have been crit-
contrast, sources with knowledge of the compa- ical in recent months of Petrobras’ inability to
ny’s operations told the news agency last week provide universal testing for workers and con-
that Equinor had registered around 60 cases as tractors before they board platforms.
of last week. Most of these occurred at the Per- However, a Petrobras spokeswoman told
egrino field, one of the firm’s largest upstream Reuters last week that the company was now
assets in Brazil, they said. testing all employees before they reach offshore
Equinor has not confirmed this number work sites, with the exception of sites off the
directly, but it did inform Reuters that some coast of the north-eastern state of Rio Grande
of its workers had become infected “despite all do Norte.
the preventative and proactive measures” it had Meanwhile, other operators are also ramping
taken. It also reported that some construction up testing. Additionally, they have been sterilis-
operations had been suspended in a bid to con- ing platforms and enforcing quarantine periods
tain the virus. among workers before they go onboard in an
Meanwhile, the news agency’s sources also effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus. ™

Petrobras to give independent

producers access to gas plants

BRAZIL’S state-controlled oil company Petro- gas processing in Brazil. It bought gas from
bras said last week that it had begun taking steps other producers in its own country, using pro-
to allow other companies to access its natural duction from both onshore and offshore fields
gas-processing plants. as feedstock for its processing units, and then
Once the new model is in place, third-party proceeded to resell the processed gas to state-
gas producers will no longer be required to sell owned distributors.
their production to Petrobras to have it pro- Now, though, it is looking to follow a new
cessed, the Rio de Janeiro-based firm said in a model under which independent producers
statement. will continue to own the gas volumes sent to
They will also be able to pay for processing processing plants and all derivatives. This will
capacity, it added. allow them to negotiate sales directly with mar-
Previously, Petrobras held a monopoly on ket players.

Week 22 04•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15