The present work analyses the results of empirical research involving ten firms that are part of the oil and gas industrial agglomeration in the productive region of the Campos Basin (RJ). The firms involved in this study operate in areas of intense technological dynamism providing products and services of high technological complexity to operators in this region. Two groups of firms were given special attention: well equipment suppliers (wet Christmas trees) and well service suppliers (well technology). A hybrid model for agglomeration analysis was developed, which uses elements from the clusters approach and innovation systems (sectoral and technological). The aim of this work was to determine the formation process and the agglomeration characterization and to understand, from the perspective of the knowledge system and the technological approaches of the firms, how the technological changes, recently applied to the Campos Basin, are implemented and what the origins of such changes are. As a secondary objective, this study has attempted to verify whether geographic agglomeration is a factor that favors innovation by the firms located there. Results have shown evidence of the existence of a group of firms in which geographical proximity has a positive influence on innovative activities.
Clusters; Oil and gas; Innovation systems; Knowledge system; Technological changes
