Making preparations for a unique project
Odebrecht is building Petrobras’s first fixed repumping platform in the state of Bahia, a project that will change the lives of the tiny community of São Roque do Paraguaçu Up to 650,000 barrels/day
written by ◦ Luciano Martins photos by ◦ Luciano Andrade

Petrobras’s construction yard in the São Roque do Paraguaçu district, south of Todos os Santos Bay in the Brazilian state of Bahia, came out of mothballs in May 2004, nearly two decades after it was shut down. The reason: it is now being used to build PRA-1, the first fixed repumping platform made in Brazil, as well as the first ever built for Petrobras. This project is also unique because it will be the first Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) contract carried out in this country, enabling Brazil to develop a range of new technologies in the field of offshore construction.

Petrobras supplied the master plan when the project was getting started. Now Odebrecht, in a joint venture with Ultratec, is responsible for the detailed engineering, procurement of all equipment and materials and the construction of the platform modules, as well as transporting and installing the platform off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. As Contract Director Fernando Barbosa, a firm believer in using engineering as a tool for successful design and planning, explains: “We have to determine the characteristics of the equipment and materials, ensuring that they arrive just in time at the construction site, and assemble immense modules on four stories, each equipped with outsized electronic and hydraulic systems, pumps and valves. And we must build this gigantic project with the smallest possible margin for error.”

The leader of the project has assembled a task force including engineering,planning and procurement, assigning the engineers the mission of not only producing the documentation needed to build the project but determining what will be needed to carry out each stage and ensuring that all those needs are met within the ideal timeframe. “We are working with suppliers from all over the world, and they are responsible for producing and delivering a vast and varied range of items and equipment, many of which are being created especially for this project,” observes Fernando Barbosa.

Over 80 lots of purchases containing thousands of items have to arrive at the yard right on time to prevent negative impacts on cash flow. “We always have to keep an eye on the results, but at the same time everything has to be done with maximum concern for environmental protection and the health, safety and quality of life of our teams and the local communities,” adds Fernando.

The project got going on May 28, 2004. The base for planning, engineering, procurement and logistics was set up in São Paulo, which in itself helped create a new Brazilian hub specialized in offshore construction, a sector previously concentrated in Rio de Janeiro. The professionals and partners who are building the platform at the Petrobras yard in Bahia were recruited from the joint-venture partners’ teams with an emphasis on local hires in order to invest in the development of nearby communities.

Jorge Luiz Mitidieri, the technical officer responsible for Engineering and Planning, observes that bringing together the areas of engineering, procurement, planning and contract management in the same office has enabled the entire team to visualize and understand the project in its entirety. “Over 75% of the engineering has been completed, and we are going to keep our commitment to deliver this stage of the project by the end of the year.”

A Petrobras team of about 30 professionals headed by engineer Cristina Alves is present at the project’s São Paulo headquarters. The overall engineering is the responsibility of engineer Juan Carlos Ribeiro and his team. It will take 19 months and involve as many as 100 people. In the end, the team will have produced 1,800 engineering documents and 6,000 documents from suppliers.

From the start, as Petrobras requested, the engineering has been carried out in 3D using PDS software, which makes it possible to visualize every stage of the project’s planning and execution. The program produces three-dimensional images for every area, including metal structure, piping systems, electrical systems, instrumentation, air conditioning, architecture and equipment.

Complex procurement procedures

Ensuring that every single part, instrument and piece of equipment arrives at the construction yard just in time is one of the major challenges of the PRA-1 project. Laszlo Paal, the officer responsible for Procurement, explains that once the prospecting stage has been completed, the engineers issue purchase requisitions containing all the technical specifications for each order. “The Procurement area then obtains advance information about the availability of each item on the market in order to produce a list of suppliers and the purchasing plan.”

Described that way, the process seems relatively simple. However, there must be at least three suppliers for each item, except in cases of highly specialized equipment. Furthermore, real manufacturing conditions must be confirmed on a case-by-case basis, which not only involves the specific quality of the materials but strict compliance with environmental and social norms for production. Importation documents and changes in the price of steel on the international market must also be taken into consideration.

Purchasing takes place in stages, including the presentation of the technical documents for each supplier, with all the details specified by the engineering team approved, before fabrication is authorized. Once the equipment is ready, it undergoes inspections and tests that could require the presence of Petrobras representatives before shipment can be authorized. Then, orders can only be shipped after their packaging has been thoroughly inspected. This process only ends when the order is delivered at the construction yard or the supplier provides technical assistance when required to assemble the equipment.

Where the parts come from

This cycle takes place time and again, for 50 kinds of large-scale equipment, which involve 500 units, as well over 150 items such as piping systems and electrical, instrumentation and telecommunications materials, which can be broken down into over 5,000 parts. “Quality, safety and environmental protection must be assured in every single case,” stresses Laszlo Paal. “Planning is key to ensuring that everything goes smoothly.”

PRA-1 Project

All variables under control

Ivan Carvalho, the officer responsible for Contract Management, handles the four management departments in charge of the project as a whole to ensure that the contract is carried out to the letter. “There are many unpredictable factors on offshore construction projects like this one, particularly when building this repumping platform, which is the first of its kind,” he observes.

For example, there are just two companies in the world that own crane or derrick barges large enough to hoist the modules being built at the São Roque do Paraguaçu yard. Each crane barge costs up to USD 500,000 per day to operate, and the date of installation has to be scheduled well in advance.

René Mário Moynier and his team are tasked with planning and controlling all the variables that can be dealt with in advance in order to minimize the possibility of any changes over the course of the project. René says that the entire planning process must be carried out in close cooperation with all the other management areas. “Such complete control is not always immediately acceptable to everyone, so we have taken great pains to ensure that team members are acculturated in a respectful but effective way.” Without everyone’s full commitment, it would have been impossible to produce the documentation for all the detailed engineering, step by step. “Documenting all procedures is essential for the production and sharing of knowledge,” he observes.

Mutual understanding based on respect

René particularly enjoys teaching and makes a point of always having a seasoned professional working alongside beginners. “This integrated planning system has been a dream for me my entire career. Now that my dream is becoming a reality, I want to make sure that the younger kids have an opportunity to learn from it.”