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The technology company Shape Digital, born in Brazil, but controlled by the Japanese giant Modec, manufacturer of platforms for offshore oil exploration, began its internationalization process. About to open a unit in Houston, in the United States, Shape is already prospecting customers in Europe, where it intends to have an operational unit by the end of this year. “We focus primarily on the United States, but we are already preparing to enter Europe”, the vice-president of Growth and Business Development, Leonardo Machado, tells PÚBLICO Brasil.
The executive passed through Lisbon in March, where he participated in a conference on the exploration of oil and gas in deep waters, and began talks with the Portuguese Galp. “Europe is a natural path”, highlights Machado. Shape operates on three fronts in this market, offering technological solutions with the use of artificial intelligence to ensure the operational efficiency of oil platforms, reduce CO2 emissions and preserve operational safety, especially lives.
Shape was born almost five years ago within Modec. “We were a technology department, which developed solutions to improve the operating system of platforms produced by Modec. Based on a consultancy carried out by McKinsey, with the results presented and after an award granted by the World Economic Forum, it was decided, in 2021, to create the company. Today, we are 140 professionals, all Brazilians”, says Machado. In addition to Modec, Shape maintains contracts with Petrobras and the French Total Energy, with a strong presence in Brazil.
“Today, we compete on equal terms with the giants that offer technology to oil and gas producers, such as the American company Halliburton. We operate in a segment that requires a lot of precision, as any failure can stop a platform and interrupt production, with great losses”, emphasizes the executive, who has worked in the oil and gas industry for 26 years. It was at competitor Halliburton, by the way, where he worked for 15 years, that he developed an international career.
Security and sustainability
Shape’s technology is present on the 14 platforms that Moldec built and operates in Brazil — through them, 1.2 million barrels of oil are extracted per day in the pre-salt area, in ultra-deep waters. “To guarantee the operational efficiency of an oil platform, all equipment must be in perfect working order. We are able to monitor, in real time, the pumps, turbines, compressors and a series of other machinery. There are dozens and dozens of sensors that allow us to create a predictive model and anticipate in days, weeks, months, to prevent something from failing”, explains the executive.
In partnership with Total, Shape also created a system to reduce the consumption of fuel used to keep the platforms running and avoid wasting the gas extracted along with the oil. “Our tool identifies the main aggressors to the environment on a platform. The extracted gas undergoes treatment and is compressed so that it can be sold on the domestic market, exported or reinserted into wells. The newer platforms, in fact, are already powered by gas, eliminating diesel. With planning, we were able to reduce CO2 emissions by between 5% and 10%”, points out Machado.
Another process developed by Shape aims at the operational security of the platforms. The goal is to avoid accidents, mainly involving workers. We are talking about giant offshore refineries. We map all security barriers, in order to anticipate the facts”, adds the executive. At the same time, the company developed AI agents, which map all operational processes, which allow those responsible for the platforms to have an overview of the whole. AI agents they do what several workers would have to do. “We managed, in 60% of cases, to avoid false positives”, he highlights.
Internationalization underway
Machado believes that, in Brazil, its growth potential — this year, revenue should be 2.5 times greater than in 2025 — is almost at its limit, as it already provides services to almost all oil companies. “Therefore, internationalization is a natural path”, he emphasizes. He remembers that Brazil is today the world’s eighth largest oil producer, with extraction of 3.5 million barrels per day.
He points out, however, that the peak of oil production in the world will be reached in 2030, declining from then on. Brazil is opening a new oil exploration front at the Foz do Amazonas, which is part of the Equatorial Margin, where Venezuela’s reserves are located — the largest in the world, but which will only reach peak production in 10 years — and from where Guyana is extracting 1 million barrels per day.
“Guyana is an impressive case. In one year, it went from almost zero production to 1 million barrels, a mark that was only reached by Petrobras after 30 years of operation. We are talking about a country with 1 million inhabitants, which extracts 1 million barrels per day, that is, one barrel per citizen”, he highlights.
For the vice-president of Shape, this region of the Americas can, in the future, reduce the world’s dependence on oil from the Middle East, a conflictual area, see the current war between the United States and Israel, on the one hand, and Iran, on the otherwhich still seems to be far from over.
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