Why Does Brazil’s Pre-Salt Attract Foreign Companies So Much?

The Amount of Barrels That Can Be Extracted and the Oil Price Above Average Makes the Pre-salt the Best Offshore Investment Source in the World

The Brazilian pre-salt has proven to be highly sought after among the world’s major oil operators, a fact confirmed by the 4th round of auctions that took place on last Friday (8) with six multinationals competing for the best bids (learn more) to operate these exploration blocks. All this greed has a very logical explanation: It is estimated that at least five billion barrels of oil can be extracted from these assets, according to geology professionals and production experts.

Experts assert that nowadays, oil multinationals see the pre-salt as the largest and best offshore exploration asset for investments in the world. They further add that the market tends to keep the barrel price above US$ 70.00, considering geopolitical instabilities. With the forecast of good future prices, oil companies naturally do not want to miss out on this market share.

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Potential of the Uirapuru Block

The consultant from ZG Consulting in Petroleum Exploration, Pedro Zalán, who is also a geologist, states that among all the contested blocks, the Uirapuru was the most targeted. It happens that seismic studies, among other research, indicate that these blocks may contain oil reserves between 2 and 3 billion recoverable barrels with current technologies, which are capable of extracting about 30% of a well’s reserve.

Statoil Bets Everything

The Uirapuru block is located in the northern sector of the Carcará asset, in the pre-salt of the Santos Basin. Statoil (now Equinor) is the second operator with the largest operating share in this block, as Petrobras chose to exercise its right of first refusal because it had lost the bids in the group it was part of. The Norwegian company reports that it invested a good portion of its Brazilian capital in Uirapuru, betting on “all or nothing.”