Process accident prevention and management

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Pre-salt

Team Petrobras

In 2024, the Paulínia Refinery, Replan, located in São Paulo, won the "Refinery of the Year" award, granted by the World Refining Association, for its initiatives in innovation, modernization, safety and sustainability. Replan is located in the Metropolitan Region of Campinas (RMC), in the interior of the state of São Paulo, and is the largest Petrobras refinery in oil processing capacity, with 69 thousand m³/day, equivalent to 434 thousand barrels. It produces about 30% of all oil refining in Brazil, processing almost all of its national oil, much of it coming from the Santos Basin (pre-salt).

The prevention and management of accidents correspond to the set of strategies, plans, and management practices adopted by the company to promote the safe operation of assets and logistics activities, maintaining the readiness of emergency response systems to mitigate impacts on human life, the environment, infrastructure, and reputation. It focuses on proactive prevention and the capacity for integrated work with public authorities, partners, communities, and other stakeholders during emergencies, such as response actions for marine spills to prevent shoreline impacts and in sensitive areas. It also encompasses corporate security risks resulting from intentional interference by third parties in pipelines and nearby areas, especially illegal tapping of oil and oil products.

Thereto, we continually seek to enhance the integrity and reliability of our facilities and improve our processes, with our ambition being to achieve zero fatalities and spills, as disclosed in our Business Plan 2025-2029.

Among the main initiatives for accident prevention, we can note:

Blue Sea Program: Aims to manage actions to prevent containment loss in the offshore production operations of E&P, including the incorporation of lessons learned from past events.
Dynamic Management of Process Safety Barriers Project: A technological solution aimed at integrated, dynamic, and real-time monitoring of the status of process safety barriers, assisting in decision-making based on risk analysis.

Ancora Oil and product spills

Oil and product spills

We invest in the continuous improvement of the integrity and reliability of our facilities, the improvement of our processes, and operational practices. In 2024, a volume of 14.4 m³ related to 12 oil and product spills exceeding 1 barrel (0.159 m³) was recorded, a figure below the alert limit of 120 m³. Out of the total spilled volume, 1 m³ from 1 event reached the soil and was subsequently recovered.

The remaining spills occurred in a marine environment where oil recovery was not possible due to the volumes, types of products, and environmental conditions that made recovery by vessel unfeasible, with monitoring of the slicks and eventual mechanical dispersion carried out by activating the Emergency Response Plan. No sensitive marine areas or unusual sensitive areas were impacted.

Ancora Use of technology in operational safety

Use of technology in operational safety

The development of safer technologies and the application of HSE requirements in investment projects are of utmost importance for our operations. We have accident rates that are benchmarks in the oil and gas industry, and yet we challenge ourselves to further improve the safety of our employees.

Throughout 2024, the Safety Innovation Laboratory (LIS), located at Petrobras Research Center (Cenpes), developed technological innovations focused on products that contribute to our ambition of achieving zero fatalities and other accidents by reducing our teams’ exposure to risk. The laboratory seeks to implement solutions that are developed and tested rapidly in controlled and representative environments to prevent and mitigate risks.

Ancora Asset integrity management

Asset integrity management

In the operational phase of assets, integrity management involves continuous monitoring and evaluation of assets, whether they are platforms, refineries, thermoelectric plants, or gas processing assets, to ensure they remain suitable for their intended purpose.

In 2024, we conducted 75 maintenance turnarounds at thermoelectric assets, 49 at natural gas assets, and 47 in refining. At Petrobras Biocombustível, two total maintenance turnarounds were carried out at the biodiesel plants, along with ten partial turnarounds.

Our commitments to life, the environment, and operational safety have always been present in our activities conducted in 2024.

Ancora Combating illegal tapping

Combating illegal tapping

Our integration with Transpetro has been further strengthened in actions against fuel theft in pipelines, also known as illegal tapping.

Aiming at a higher effectiveness of combating illegal tapping, we have strengthened ties with communities neighboring the pipeline rights-of-way, by expanding social and awareness projects, investing in the enhancement of technological solutions, and strengthening relationships with public security agencies.

This synergy resulted in 25 incidents reported in 2024, a reduction of about 10% compared to the results obtained in 2023 (28 incidents). Comparing this to the historical peak in 2018, when we recorded 261 incidents, we see a 90% reduction in fuel theft.

Ancora Process safety

Process safety

We monitor our process safety performance through indicators established according to industry best practices, which allow us to track our performance against our peers.

In 2024, we recorded 15 Tier 1 process safety accidents and 39 Tier 2 accidents, as can be seen in Graph 4.2. It is worth noting that, in the same year, our subsidiary Transpetro reported 1 Tier 2 accident and no Tier 1 accidents.