The energy transition is fostering a new willingness among oil and gas companies to forge working partnerships in research and development, according to participants in a discussion on Monday during the Rio Oil & Gas event.

R&D has blossomed in Brazil since the discovery of the giant and technologically challenging pre-salt oil and gas fields more than 15 years ago, helped by a 1% pre-salt royalty introduced for this purpose and subsequently expanded to include investments in renewables and energy transition projects.