The sporting challenge seeks to foster integration between professionals of the oil and gas sector and to collect money for institutions. BG Brasil, a company that is active in the Brazilian oil and gas E&P segment, is organizing the third edition of the in BG Energy Challenge in the country. The event to take place from October 17-19 in Teresópolis (RJ) is a team-based adven ture sports contest involving physical, logical and strategic challenges designed for energy sector companies (oil and gas exploration and production). The BG Energy Challenge is held annually in countries such as the U.K., Trinidad and Tobago, Kazakhstan, Egypt, India, the U.S. and Oman.
The two previous editions of the event held in 2006 and 2007 attracted approximately 250 participants from a wide range of energy segment companies, including BP, Chevron, Repsol YPF, Devon, El Paso, Statoil, Hydro Brasil, Comgás and Petrobras, as well as BG companies in South America (Gasoducto Cruz Del Sur, MetroGAS and BG Bolívia). The competition was disputed in a number of sports - canoeing, cycling, trekking in the Atlantic Forest, high-difficulty stretches and logical challenges.
For the third edition, around 60 teams from a number of companies from the sector are registered, including from other countries, such as Argentina, Bolivia and the UK. "We want to repeat the success of the other years and increase the amount collected for the institution, because that is really the major goal of the Challenge," said Armando Henriques, president of BG Brasil.
Besides fostering integration of the segment's professionals, the BG Energy Challenge collects funds for social work institutions. Since the first event held in the UK in 1996, BG Group already has collected about R$ 10 million, entirely earmarked for social projects.
In Brazil, some R$ 157,000 already was donated to two support organisations for children with serious health problems: the Casa de Apoio à Criança com Câncer Santa Teresa (Santa Teresa Home to Help Children with Cancer) and the Pró-Criança Cardíaca, for children with heart diseases. This year the institution benefited is
Centro Brasileiro Pró-Vida , a nonprofit organisation that among other activities, runs a project for the treatment of craniofacial anomalies.
One of the novelties being implemented this year is that efforts to collect funds will influence each team's final time available to accomplish the challenges. The purpose of the new rule is to increase the amounts collected by the participating teams. The minimum value the teams were required to collect for Centro Brasileiro Pró-Vida to participate in the 2008 Challenge is R$ 3,000.