Public policies and technological innovation in Brazil’s oil and gas industry: a patent perspective

The Oil & Gas (O&G) sector is the mainstay of Brazil's energy matrix. Given the complexity of the segment's activities, searching for new technologies and optimizing the effort and costs involved in the process are frequent objects of study for the players operating in this field. Based on this premise, there is a need to invest in innovative studies and research. The National Innovation System (SNI) is mainly responsible for promoting investment in Research, Development, and Innovation (RD&I) in the country, and patents are a relevant input in the technological production process. In this way, this research aims to investigate whether innovation promotion mechanisms influence the technological production of the main players in the Brazilian O&G sector. The methodology used consisted of the following steps: selection of the main regulatory frameworks related to NIS in the O&G sector; identification of the main Oil Companies, National Suppliers, and Research Units and their respective participation in ANP RD&I Clause projects, using the ANP's open database; a patent survey of the main players using the EPO's Espacenet open database; treatment and correlation of patent data in the light of the selected regulatory frameworks. The results showed that most of the players analyzed have the practice of technological protection through patents in the global context. However, only some companies linked to projects with resources from public policies to encourage innovation showed results that refer to Brazilian participation in the development of these patents. It becomes clear that certain regulatory frameworks have a major influence on patent production in Brazil, both positively and negatively.