Up until a few years ago, Transocean only had one customer in Brazil: Petrobras. Now, the company’s customer roster has quickly swelled to nine, as companies like Chevron, BG, Repsol, Devon, Anadarko and others have been allowed into the country.

Beacon caught up with Paul Sullivan, Well Engineering Manager for customer BG in Brazil, on September 10, the day after his company announced its Guara discovery located in Brazil’s Santos Basin is estimated to contain 1-2 billion barrels of oil equivalent. On September 15, BG announced yet another discovery in the Santos Basin at Abare West, bringing the company to eight discoveries in the pre-salt in the past three years.

“When you’re in the exploration business, you’re always hopeful that you’re going to be successful and in this case it’s been very successful,” he said. “We’ve got an extensive position in an area that is very, very promising. It’s a very bright future for the company.”

Transocean’s semisubmersible GSF Celtic Sea has operated for Paul and BG for the past year, arriving in Brazil in January 2009 under a two-year contract.

“We went into it with the aim of being a recognized performance leader,” said Sullivan. “Pleasingly, that’s where we are now. We’ve drilled a couple of wells and we’re well ahead of the curve, ahead of budget, the safety of the operation has been good, and I don’t see any change to that current performance.”

As Sullivan works to manage an extended drilling team, which consists of HSE representatives, operations/engineering experts, contractors, logistics and more, he recognizes Transocean for its professionalism.

“All the way through marketing, projects, mobilization and now into the operation, what I’ve seen is what I’m used to seeing from Transocean, which is a very professional operation,” he said. “And with Transocean’s long experience in Brazil, I’m confident in their service to BG.”

Learn more about BG at their Web site, www.bg-group.com.