Big business in Brazil

Agreement signed between Brazilian energy company and Edinburgh Universities.

Petrobras S.A., Brazil’s national energy company, and BG Group plc have signed a major £1.8 millon agreement over three years with the University of Edinburgh and Heriot-Watt University to apply their world-class expertise to the challenges of extracting oil from carbonate reservoirs in offshore fields.
 

More than 60 per cent of the world’s oil reserves (equivalent to three trillion barrels) are contained in carbonate reservoirs.

With the recovery rate for oil found within carbonate rocks as low as 20 per cent, this provides distinct challenges for the oil industry in reservoir characterisation and reservoir simulation.

Naturally, therefore, the demand for expertise in understanding carbonate systems is very high.

The International Centre for Carbonate Reservoirs is a unique initiative, combining geoscience expertise at Edinburgh with petroleum engineering expertise from Heriot- Watt, to address the significant operational challenges facing the oil industry in maximising the potential of carbonate reservoirs.

The Centre - the first of its kind in the UK - will develop advanced techniques and modelling capabilities to improve the recovery of hydrocarbons from complex and challenging carbonate environments.

We are delighted that Petrobras and BG Group are collaborating as industrial partners. The input we received from Scottish Development International and UK Trade & Investment also played a key part in establishing this centre by giving us opportunities to visit key personnel and to strengthen relationships.

Dr Rachel Wood
School of GeoScience