Petrocompany, Oil Knowledge Workers

By Bruno De Nicola, Senior Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO – Founded in 2008, Petrocompany started its activities in the oil sector operating drilling probes, offering gas and oil consultancies and training a specialized work-force.

The Company’s goal is to become a highly specialized post-graduate school for the development of workers to satisfy the growing demand in Brazil’s exploding oil market. Since its first days it has been offering industry workers a strong competitive advantage with specific technical skills.

Petrocompany is strategically located in the northeast region of the country, an area that is known for its lack of specialized work force. The firm’s head-quarters are in Salvador, capital of the state of Bahia and third most important city of Brazil in terms of business, after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The scarce number of technically trained workers in the northeast of Brazil is an issue that has been affecting many sectors of Brazilian industry. Very often huge companies are forced to import know-how from other regions or countries, in order to supply their own human resources demand.

Lately a new approach has emerged, in order to stand in for the lack of public or private schools in the area, corporate universities are being established by large companies in several northeastern capitals. Other smaller companies, who have gathered a certain know-how over the years, are turning themselves into very specialized schools, hoping to develop a florid new channel of talent.

Now Petrocompany is responsible for operating probes for the Brazilian state-owned oil giant, Petrobras, involved in each stage of well construction, from installation to operation, in several regions of the Pré-salt area.

Petrocompany also has a prospecting division for new business development. Through this office the company; rents out perforating probes along with operators, sells specific equipment for the petroleum sector, and manages negotiations for other companies in need of consultation.

Petrocompany serves the two biggest Brazilian global corporations, Petrobras and Vale the mining giant, covering management in operations and human resources in several of their business channels across the Northeastern states of Brazil.

People at Petrocompany possess the distinct advantage of regional knowledge, in bother territory and local clients, offering highly specialized competences for business negotiations. The on-site workforce is made of technically experienced team operators and supervisors, specifically trained.

When Petrocompany bought Petróleo RH Ltda, a human resource management company, the educational channel was established. Now with this vertical integration, the oil company from Salvador managed to set up the best training center in the northeast region of Brazil, an impressive campus that allows its trainees to practice on actual equipment and probes.

“That’s our true strength” said Petrocompany’s Educational coordinator, José Portugal de Jesus Junior, “our students get to use a probe that no one else uses for training reasons.”

Petrocompany’s plans for the future are to expand to the rest of the country. Under the current trend, the need for a greater number of specialized workers has already reached overwhelming proportions, with some sources estimating over 150,000 open positions.