Brazilian-Norwegian Subsea Operations Consortium 2

Given the current energy challenges, such as renewable potential, sustainability and low carbon emissions, it is vital that the oil and gas industry prepares for the future. Many of the future developments in the oil and gas industry will rely heavily on subsea production and processing. To this end, the Brazilian-Norwegian Subsea Operations Consortium (BN-SOC) was established in 2017. USP, UFRJ, Unicamp, Equinor, Petrobras and GCE Ocean Technology are partners in the project, which is coordinated by the Department of Geoscience and Petroleum (IGP) at NTNU. Two Centres for Research-based Innovation have been involved in the project, SFI SUBPRO and SFI MOVE. The project is now moving into phase 2, with the primary objective of continuing the development of a world-leading consortium within subsea operations education, research and development. Activities in the first phase of BN-SOC have centered around the mobility to facilitate multidisciplinary collaboration. The consortium has facilitated approx. 70 reciprocal visits and 15 short-term stays, and courses completed at USP, UFRJ and Unicamp. 5 journal articles have been published so far, as well as approx. 60 conference papers and presentations produced. Based on the collaboration, NTNU and our Brazilian partner universities are now partners in the newly established SFI SWIPA, coordinated by SINTEF Industry. BN-SOC2 will aim to: - Strengthen competitiveness and secure the position of Norwegian and Brazilian institutions as leading within subsea technology and subsea operations - Continue to establish cross-institutional and multidisciplinary projects that enables step changes in subsea technology and subsea operations - Develop future professionals for the global energy scene with in-depth knowledge of subsea technology and subsea operations - Facilitate technology transfer to other application areas (ex. floating wind turbines, subsea mining), and learn from other industry sectors

Given the current energy challenges, such as renewable potential, sustainability and low carbon emissions, it is vital that the oil and gas industry prepares itself for the future. To this end, the Brazilian-Norwegian Subsea Operations Consortium (BN-SOC) was established in 2017, following a successful INTPART application in 2016, with leading academic and industrial actors from Brazil and Norway as partners. All the consortium partners from BN-SOC are on-board for the second phase of the project. Activities of the first phase of BN-SOC have centered around the mobility as a major activity, and the consortium has good results to show for its activities so far. Increased contact with Brazil through BN-SOC has been a valuable supplement to NTNU, particularly to SFI SUBRPO and SFI MOVE, as well as the other consortium members. While contact between BN-SOC's members will continue after project end, the phase 2 financing of the project here proposed will be of central importance, not only to maintain current levels of activity, but to further develop cooperation between Norway and Brazil. The activities proposed in the project description (attached), and stemming from the objectives stated in this application, all contribute to INTPART's aims to enhance quality in Norwegian education and research, to enhance the link between higher education and research, to develop long-term international partnerships, and to further develop cooperation between academia and industry. A lack of funding at this stage will dissipate much of the consortium’s current momentum and miss the opportunity of a higher state of the art in the subsea field among Brazil and Norway.