The contribution of Conselho Nacional do Petróleo and Petrobras in training professionals for oil exploration in Brazil

Author(s)

Drielli Peyerl

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Geociências
• Defense date: 2014-03-14

Examining board members

Silvia Fernanda de Mendonça Figueirôa; André Tosi Furtado; Jefferson de Lima Picanço; Antonio Carlos Sequeira Fernandes; Maria Amélia Mascarenhas Dantes

• Advisor: Silvia Fernanda de Mendonça Figueirôa

Abstract

In 1864, an event that was both unique and official started and transformed the direction of Brazil¿s researches related to oil: the Decree n° 3.352-A where, for the first time, the word "oil" can be found in a text on the Brazilian Law. Correlated to this event, the Ouro Preto Mining School was founded in 1875, where the teaching of Geosciences begins to be systematically practiced. Although formally titled as mining engineer, many in fact acted as geologists before the existence of a specific course of Geology. In the development for search and exploitation of oil in Brazil during the twentieth century we had private and government initiatives (Comissão Geográfica e Geológica de São Paulo, Comissão White, Serviço Geológico e Mineralógico do Brasil) that contributed to research and future prospecting for oil in the country. In 1938, the National Petroleum Council (Conselho Nacional do Petróleo ¿ CNP) is created, in order to find and control oil in the Brazilian territory. In the following year the first petroleum deposits is found at the region of Lobato, Bahia, changing the oil policy in Brazil. The discovery of oil served as impetus for the industry and for activities which depend upon it. Meanwhile, one of the problems faced by CNP was the lack of qualified personnel to the technical demands and geological knowledge of the Brazilian territory. In 1954, Petrobras (1953) began operations from assets received from the old CNP, in order to perform tasks in the oil exploration industry in the territory. Some characteristics from CNP remained at Petrobras, especially the political and nationalist pressure that sought to consolidate Brazil as an oil-rich country. In this process, both CNP and Petrobras invested in the development of training courses and professionalization in their own team, mainly training professionals in the field of Geology and Petroleum Engineering. Besides Petrobras and CNP, other scientific societies and agreements with universities contributed to the formation and constitution of Geosciences in Brazil in another level of institutionalization and professionalization. Thus, this thesis aims to investigate and understand the role of CNP and especially of Petrobras in the construction and shaping of courses in the area of Geosciences, as part of the historical process of search and exploration for oil that began here in 1864 and ended in 1968 with the discovery of the first well-offshore, thus the Petrobras invests massively in research for oil exploration in the sea. The main source of this research is from the personal files of paleontologist Frederico Waldemar Lange (1911-1988), avaible for inspection at the Paleontology and Stratigraphy Laboratory of the State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG) (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 10/14857-2 - The role of Petrobras in the training of professionals in the field of Geosciences and mapping of the Brazilian territory
• Grantee: Drielli Peyerl
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate