Petrobras Chief Executive Officer José Sergio Gabrielli will be a keynote speaker at Nor-Shipping, marking Brazil’s importance as a hotspot for offshore service providers.
Brazil’s giant pre-salt oil and gas discoveries are in ultra-deep waters and far away from shore, representing unprecedented technological challenges. Brazilian oil giant Petrobras will need the help of foreign offshore service suppliers to overcome these challenges and develop fields in a country that still has a fledging supplier industry.
“This year’s Nor-Shipping conference marks a strategic turning point as the maritime industry increasingly moves offshore to service the oil and gas industry,” said Tollef Schiander, exhibition director for Nor-Shipping, the leading maritime event week. “Norwegian suppliers, with their deepwater expertise, are well positioned to help Brazil and other offshore markets.”
Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske is visiting Brazil this week along with a delegation of about 130 executives who will be meeting with Gabrielli, among others. This is the biggest business delegation ever to travel with a Norwegian minister, signifying Brazil’s increasing importance as a promising market for Norwegian exports.
Norwegian exports of goods to Brazil jumped 80 percent last year, and about 120 Norwegian companies currently operate in Brazil, a doubling over the last five years. Most of these companies are involved in the offshore and maritime sectors, and 25 percent of special-purpose vessels serving the Brazilian continental shelf are Norwegian owned.