Technique and Exploration: The Beginning of Micropaleontology in the Brazilian Oil Industry

Abstract

In 1953, the creation of Petrobras contributed not just for the Brazilian oil policy and economy, but also for the creation of a department focused on the research and exploration of oil in the Brazilian territory. Created in 1955, the Department of Exploration—DEPEX was divided in and performed by local districts situated in basins with oil potential, all directly subordinate to the Chief Superintendent, the North American geologist Walter Karl Link (1902–1982). It is necessary to point out the importance of the investments of Petrobras, and mainly of the Department of Exploration, in the laboratories of paleontology, stratigraphy, and subsequently in sedimentology. In the 1950s, the first Paleontology Laboratories were situated in Belem (Para State), Ponta Grossa (Parana State) and Salvador (Bahia State), and incorporated by these districts. Huge advances in scientific and technical expertise related specifically to micropaleontology were achieved. Professionals of the company performed their activities during this period, in particular the Brazilian paleontologist Frederico Waldemar Lange (1911–1988), who started developing the first studies on microfossils in 1955, mainly chitinozoans. From 1958 onward, we also have in the lab in Belem, the Danish Johannes Christian Troelsen (1913–?) and the German geologist and micropaleontologist Karl Krommelbein (1920–1979), who continued their researches on foraminifera from the coastal basins in the north and in the northeast. The activities of the professionals continued to expand, contributing significantly for oil field research. Since the beginning, Petrobras invests in the qualification of his own labor force with courses and internships abroad. As two specific examples, we have the advanced course in micropaleontology, offered by the “Centro de Aperfeicoamento e Pesquisas de Petroleo”—CENAP/Petrobras (Improvement and Oil Research Center), in 1961—with 6 months of duration, and the internship in micropaleontology (foraminifera and nannofossils, in oil companies abroad), in 1968. Thus, this summary confirms the first steps of the paleontological researches, highlighting the technic and scientific improvements of micropaleontology in the Brazilian development of oil exploration.