A new partnership between ANP (National Petroleum Agency), Ibama (National Environmental Agency) and the Brazilian Navy, plans to upgrade and expand existing E&P safety measures, in order to prevent major oil spills in Brazil.

NAVALSHORE 2010 - Trade show and conference for the maritime and offshore industry to take pace next week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

DOF has been awarded four new charter contracts by Petrobras, at a total value of NOK 5.2 billion.

Today was the last day of the Navalshore 2010, maritime and offshore industry conference and fair in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Since Wednesday, shipbuilding and maritime equipment industry businessmen from the four corners of the globe have been demonstrating and negotiating their products. At the same time and as an integral part of the event, various conferences have taken place, all related to shipping, shipbuilding and the offshore (O&G) industries.

OGX estimates that the total Parnaiba Basin natural gas potential at 15 trillion cubic feet. This discovery opens a new exploratory frontier in an onshore basin, the first in two decades. At the Campos Basin, OGX-18 well reports indication of hydrocarbons, adding to the excellent results of their ongoing exploratory campaign.

With the expected growth of the Brazilian O&G market and high potential for new discoveries, new national and international O&G operators are preparing for or already undertaking exploratory campaigns. We will be taking a look at these new operators and also at how the established players are going about E&P in Brazil.

Starfish Oil & Gas is not exactly a new player, since the company was founded in 1999. As the first private national O&G operator in Brazil and classified as a B class operator by ANP (National Petroleum Agency), Starfish has participation in a variety of onshore and offshore blocks in Brazil and in Angola.

China Petrochemical (Sinopec) and the Chinese national oil company (CNOOC) are holding separate negotiations with OGX Petroleo e Gás in order to acquire 20% of an OGX deepwater play at the Santos Basin. In general we can see a marked increase in Chinese involvement and investments in Brazil.

The use of automated equipments is on a steady rise in Brazilian shipyards, which are looking to be more competitive and meet order demands.