MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras took first place in the Oil and Gas category of the Top Open Corps ranking, which awards companies that most interact with the open innovation ecosystem in the country, said Bnamericas.
The company has been betting on this segment, through the Petrobras Connections for Innovation Program, which, this year, launched a public notice with investments in the amount of R$ 22 million. The research that supports the ranking shows that the number of open innovation relationships between corporations and startups has doubled this year compared to 2020. The five companies in the Oil and Gas category best placed in the category were responsible for 67% of these interactions.
The survey considers the number of open innovation relationships based on data provided by companies and startups, relative to the previous year, which are audited. Each form of interaction is given a weight, according to the forms of relationship, from the first contact to the provision of services. According to the organization of the award, compared to last year, corporations with contracts with startups increased from 1,968 to 3,334, recording a growth of 69%.
“I am very proud of this recognition in light of everything we are doing in our innovation ecosystem. Our Open Innovation Program is enabling us to achieve incredible results for the company. We are a reference in what we do, but we want to go even further”, celebrated the director of Digital Transformation and Innovation at Petrobras, Nicolas Simone.
The Petrobras Connections for Innovation Program is the largest program focused on open innovation in the country and is part of Petrobras' objective of stimulating the generation of innovations with a high potential for impact and efficiency gains in areas of interest to the sector. For this, just in the notice of the Startups module, in the analysis phase of the submitted proposals, the company will invest in solutions of up to R$ 500 thousand and up to RD 1.5 million, depending on the category of the challenge (soft or deep tech). In addition to the Startups module, the company launched the Solution Testing modules, aimed at startups and other innovative companies that have technological solutions and wish to test them quickly; Challenges, with opportunities mapped from internal demands that are periodically disclosed and Ignition, in partnership with PUC-Rio.
Petrobras relates to the innovation ecosystem not only through startups, but also in partnerships with universities, Science and Technology Institutions (ICTs), in Brazil and abroad, and other companies.
As MRC reported earlier, Petrobras has announced the sale of its second facility. The state-owned company has signed a contract with Ream Participacoes, which belongs to the distributor Atem, for the sale of the Isaac Sabba (Reman) refinery and the associated logistics facilities in the state of Amazonas. The sale value is USD189.5 million. Of this, USD28.4 million will be paid upon signature of the contract and the remaining USD161.1 million upon closing of the transaction. Atem is a distributor in the north of the country.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,176,860 tonnes in the first half of 2021, up by 5% year on year. Shipments of exclusively low density polyethylene (LDPE) decreased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 727,160 tonnes in the first six months of 2021, up by 31% year on year. Supply of homopolymer PP and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased. Supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC