The partnership of the RCGI – FAPESP-SHELL Research Center for Gas Innovation with the Department of Energy and Mining of the State of São Paulo is intensifying. From here forward, the coordinators of the Center’s 29 projects will have a work station available to them on the 5th floor of the Department’s office building (Praça Ramos de Azevedo, 254 – República – São Paulo). The room is next to the undersecretary of Oil and Gas.
“The availability of a work station in the Undersecretary of Oil and Gas will allow increased interaction between RCGI’s researchers and the technical staff of the State Department of Energy and Mining and expand the cooperation between the institutions, thus serving mutual interests,” states the undersecretary of Petroleum and Gas of the State of São Paulo, Dirceu Abrahão. “Furthermore, this partnership can provide important elements for the formulation of public policies focusing on the intensification of activities and overcoming the challenges related to the petroleum and gas supply chain in the country,” he adds.
As Abrahão sees it, there are currently a number of lines under joint analysis between RCGI and the Department, besides new projects of interest, which include sequestering, capturing, and storing CO2 and increasing the recovery factor of oil. “We expect that this relationship will promote greater integration between the State Government and the universities throughout the State, as well as research centers, operating companies and suppliers, all of which are benefiting a number of sectors of the economy.”
The structure made available to RCGI includes a round table with a computer, Wi-Fi, and electrical infrastructure, making it possible for researchers to take their notebooks, if they prefer. According to Professor Edmilson Moutinho dos Santos, an RCGI researcher and Professor at USP’s Energy and Environment Institute (IEE), the idea of occupying a physical space in the Department has been on the table since RCGI was created, about a year ago. “We will plan our agenda for the whole year, so that an RCGI researcher will be at the Department at least every two weeks.”