Brazil plans to use Japanese technology in building a floating structure and ships for its huge offshore oil development project, media outlets reported yesterday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff are to announce the use of Japanese technology in building a “logistics hub” for the project when they meet in Brazil on Aug. 1, according to a draft of their joint statement, Japan’s Kyodo news agency said.
The massive floating structure under consideration would be about 30m long and 100m wide, Kyodo said, citing government sources.
Abe is scheduled to leave on a tour of Central and South America on Friday.
Abe and Rousseff are also to announce that Brazil is set to launch a program this year to upgrade its shipbuilding industry by training experts with Japanese help, according to the draft.
The Nikkei Business Daily said the leaders are expected to reach agreement during their talks on cooperation for the project to develop the field off Brazil.
Petrobras, Brazil’s government-affiliated oil company, aims to start production by 2020 at the field which is estimated to hold more than 50 billion barrels of oil reserves, the Nikkei Business Daily report said.
Under current plans, the report said, Petrobras is set to eventually need to procure 50 floating oil platforms, which cost roughly ¥100 billion (US$987 million) each.
It could also need 50 deep-sea drilling vessels costing ¥60 billion each, as well as ships to carry vast amounts of personnel, equipment and supplies.
All told, the project is expected to cost about ¥20 trillion. Major Japanese shipbuilders, such as IHI Corp and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, are proposing to build large floating platforms, the report said.
The semi-governmental Japan International Cooperation Agency has plans to partner with Japanese shipbuilders to train Brazilian specialists in shipbuilding technologies, the report said.
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