The oil industry is characterized by being technology-intensive, relying heavily on scientific development characterized by inter- and multidisciplinarity. The exploration and production of oil in increasingly adverse conditions requires the development of advanced research and the training of qualified human resources, both globally and nationally. The Civil Engineering Program has been working in the Oil & Gas sector since 1977, having already started pioneering computer developments to support Petrobras in its search for and production of oil at sea.

Recently, there has been a profound reconfiguration of the global energy sector, driven by the growing urgency of the climate crisis and the international commitments made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In this context, it has become essential to broaden the scope of the Oil and Gas concentration area to include research related to Renewable Energies, in line with the global energy transition movement. This is a strategic and necessary response to the demand for professionals with a systemic vision, prepared to operate in a changing market. It also promotes alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 7 (clean and affordable energy) and SDG 13 (action against global climate change).

In this way, the recent integration of Oil, Gas and Renewable Energies in the PEC’s academic environment favors a broader, more critical and interdisciplinary approach, which is necessary to face the technical, environmental and social challenges posed by climate change and the new global energy dynamics. These trends have also been driven by new requirements related to the growing demand for decarbonization of the oil industry; digital transformation; and balancing the search for renewable energy and the demands of P&G. It is interesting to note that, even before the formal incorporation of Renewable Energy studies into the traditional Oil and Gas area of the PEC, several PEC lecturers had already been working on research and supervising dissertations and theses on renewable energies – especially in the offshore environment, with the generation of wind, solar and sea wave energy through fixed and floating platforms.

In this context, the Oil, Gas and Renewable Energy Area of Concentration involves different themes encompassed in the following lines of research: Offshore Structures and Systems; Structural Integrity; Petroleum Systems; Radar Remote Sensing oriented to the Petroleum Industry; and Migration and Imaging in Oil and Gas Geophysics.

The activities related to the Offshore Structures and Systems line deal with the development and application of techniques for the analysis and design of complex structural systems both for oil and gas production in shallow and deep waters and for the generation of renewable wind, solar and wave energy. These include fixed, rigid or compliant structural systems; anchored floating systems, such as semi-submersible platforms or ship-based units; riser systems and pipelines. The design of such systems requires in-depth knowledge of various topics, such as: structural analysis, computational techniques, hydrodynamics, oceanography, geotechnics, foundations, materials, statistics, probability, reliability, spectral analysis, signal processing and optimization.

The activities related to Structural Integrity aim to train qualified human resources to deal with engineering problems related to the safety and physical integrity of structures and equipment used in the different physical installations of the oil industry. Subjects such as: material properties and characterization, stress analysis in marine and land structures, fatigue and fracture mechanics, non-destructive testing and reliability-based inspection are covered.

In activities related to Petroleum Systems, research is carried out that is essential to the exploration process in sedimentary basins. The focus is on training professionals capable of analyzing these basins, estimating potential, configuring exploration opportunities, planning and executing exploration projects. This line also involves the development and application of numerical simulators aimed at secondary and tertiary recovery processes in oil reservoirs; stability of horizontal or highly inclined wells; two- and three-dimensional modeling of sedimentary basins.

The activities related to Radar Remote Sensing are focused on promoting the detection of oil exudations in oceanic regions, indicative of the presence of active petroleum systems, as well as establishing their tectonic and environmental context and repeatability over time. This activity is fundamental as a boundary condition for the computational modeling of oil generation and migration processes, adding value to oil industry projects developed in exploratory frontiers.

Activities related to migration and imaging in oil and gas geophysics deal with the development of essential tools to obtain information from the subsurface in terms of reliable images, thus reducing exploration risk. In this context, geophysical methods, especially seismic methods, are of fundamental importance. Research into seismic methods at COPPE-UFRJ began with the application in migration of the seismic modeling methods and algorithms developed at PEC over the last 35 years, using MDF, MEF and integral equations (MEC and Kirchhoff equations). More recently, tomography techniques and inverse problems have also been included.

The activities related to concretes and refractories concern the development and experimental and numerical analysis on a micro, meso and macro scale of refractory concretes used in refining units and of pastes for cementing oil wells. The problems addressed correspond to thermo-chemical-mechanical phenomena at high temperatures and pressures close to atmospheric, in the case of refractory concretes, and at medium temperatures with high pressures in the case of well cementing pastes. Tests on the micro, meso and macroscopic scales are carried out so that multi-scale analysis procedures, homogenized within the theoretical framework of micro-mechanics, can be validated by experimental results. The existing equipment at COPPE/UFRJ’s Structures and Materials Laboratory enables the determination of thermo-chemical-mechanical properties and high-performance mechanical and computational modeling of concretes and refractories for the oil industry.

In this context, the Oil and Gas Area of Concentration involves different themes encompassed in the following lines of research: Offshore Structures and Systems; Structural Integrity; Petroleum Systems; Radar Remote Sensing for the Petroleum Industry; and Migration and Imaging in Oil and Gas Geophysics. Many of these lines of research are related to the Interdisciplinary Areas implemented by COPPE.

The activities related to the Offshore Structures and Systems line deal with the development and application of techniques for the analysis and design of complex structural systems for exploration and production in shallow and deep waters.

These include fixed, rigid or compliant structural systems; anchored floating systems, such as semi-submersible platforms or ship-based units; riser systems and pipelines. The design of such systems requires in-depth knowledge of various topics, such as: structural analysis, computational techniques, hydrodynamics, oceanography, geotechnics, foundations, materials, statistics, probability, reliability, spectral analysis, signal processing and optimization.

The activities related to Structural Integrity aim to train qualified human resources to deal with engineering problems related to the safety and physical integrity of structures and equipment used in the different physical installations of the oil industry. Subjects such as: material properties and characterization, stress analysis in marine and land structures, fatigue and fracture mechanics, non-destructive testing and reliability-based inspection are covered.

In activities related to Petroleum Systems, research is carried out that is essential to the exploration process in sedimentary basins. The focus is on training professionals capable of analyzing these basins, estimating potential, configuring exploration opportunities, planning and executing exploration projects. This line also involves the development and application of numerical simulators aimed at secondary and tertiary recovery processes in oil reservoirs; stability of horizontal or highly inclined wells; two- and three-dimensional modeling of sedimentary basins.

The activities related to Radar Remote Sensing are focused on promoting the detection of oil exudations in oceanic regions, indicative of the presence of active petroleum systems, as well as establishing their tectonic and environmental context and repeatability over time. This activity is fundamental as a boundary condition for the computational modeling of oil generation and migration processes, adding value to oil industry projects developed in exploratory frontiers.

Activities related to migration and imaging in oil and gas geophysics deal with the development of essential tools to obtain information from the subsurface in terms of reliable images, thus reducing exploration risk. In this context, geophysical methods, especially seismic methods, are of fundamental importance. Research into seismic methods at COPPE-UFRJ began with the application in migration of the seismic modeling methods and algorithms developed at PEC over the last 35 years, using MDF, MEF and integral equations (MEC and Kirchhoff equations). More recently, tomography techniques and inverse problems have also been included.

The activities related to concretes and refractories concern the development and experimental and numerical analysis on a micro, meso and macro scale of refractory concretes used in refining units and of pastes for cementing oil wells. The problems addressed correspond to thermo-chemical-mechanical phenomena at high temperatures and pressures close to atmospheric, in the case of refractory concretes, and at medium temperatures with high pressures in the case of well cementing pastes. Tests on the micro, meso and macroscopic scales are carried out so that multi-scale analysis procedures, homogenized within the theoretical framework of micro-mechanics, can be validated by experimental results. The existing equipment at COPPE/UFRJ’s Structures and Materials Laboratory enables the determination of thermo-chemical-mechanical properties and high-performance mechanical and computational modeling of concretes and refractories for the oil industry.