About  Wllisses Menezes Afonso

Wllisses is a Civil Engineer with a master’s degree in Structures, an MBA in Business Management, and a specialization in Petroleum Engineering. With over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, he joined Petrobras in 2004 and has held leadership roles across Wells Design and Services, Production Units, and Project Management. He is currently Head of Drilling and Wells at Petrobras, focusing on strengthening safety and well integrity while fostering collaboration and performance with service partners to support the long-term development of the Drilling and Wells segment in Brazil and globally

Session Chairs: João Paulo Sanseverion Abdu, Petrobras; Andres Gibson, Darcy Partners

This session will bring together professionals to share lessons learned from drilling campaigns across Latin America and the Caribbean. Through real-world case studies, participants will discuss operational challenges, successful practices, technology applications, and decision-making processes in diverse geological and business environments. The session aims to foster knowledge exchange and highlight regional experiences that can be applied to future projects.

Session Chairs: Luis Carlos de Souza Junior, Petrobras; Thiago Oliveira, Shell

Geomechanical uncertainty remains a key factor influencing drilling performance and well integrity. This session will present case studies involving wellbore stability, pore pressure prediction, lost circulation, fault-related challenges, stress characterization, and reservoir deformation. Experts will discuss how geomechanical understanding contributed to risk mitigation and improved outcomes in different geological settings throughout the region.

Session Chairs: Jose Abud, Halliburton; Alessandro Pasini, Foresea

Continuous improvement is essential for delivering safer, faster, and more cost-effective wells. This session will explore opportunities to optimize drilling campaigns through better planning, operational execution, data utilization, multidisciplinary collaboration, and performance monitoring. Attendees will discuss lessons learned from past campaigns and practical approaches for enhancing efficiency and value creation.

Session Chairs: Thiago Pessoa, Equinor; Sergio Fontoura, PUC-Rio / ISRM

Geohazards represent some of the most significant risks encountered during well planning and drilling operations, ranging from shallow gas pockets and hydrate zones to active faults, subsidence areas, and unstable seafloor conditions. This session will focus on best practices for identifying, characterizing, and modeling geohazards through the integration of seismic data interpretation, petrophysics and geomechanical analysis. Experts will share methodologies for incorporating geohazard findings into well design and operational procedures, with the goal of minimizing risk exposure while preserving operational efficiency.