Six blocks will be offered in 2020; Known as the Blue Amazon, the new oil exploration frontier has an area the size of Uruguay.

The National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) decided this Friday to offer exploratory oil blocks at sea in the 17th Bidding Round, in 2020. Speaking of pre-salt, this Monday, October 21st, Colombian company Ecopetrol announced the purchase of 30% of Gato do Mato from Shell. 

“Currently, the main focus is the zone close to the pre-salt layer, where, if discoveries are confirmed, there are expectations of increasing the volume of oil and gas reserves in Brazil by around 50%, which are currently estimated at 15,9 billion barrels,” announced the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Government specialists and technicians have referred to this area as blue amazon because they found evidence in the region of reserves not only of oil, but also of other minerals, such as cobalt and manganese.

This coastal strip of the Blue Amazon is as rich as the pre-salt layer, whose reservoirs discovered in the last decade already account for 57% of Brazil's oil production.

The limit of 350 nautical miles is the new milestone that Brazil has claimed for its legal continental shelf with the UN since 2004, with the aim of expanding its exploration of mineral wealth at sea. Fifteen years later, Brazil had its first victory a month ago: the UN published on its website in June the expansion of the limits of the continental shelf from 200 to 300 miles in the Southern Region.

This recognition already corresponds to an increase of 170 square kilometers — equivalent to the territory of Uruguay — in the area that can be economically exploited by Brazil.

A favorable point for attracting oil companies to explore this new frontier is the fact that, as they are not located in the so-called pre-salt polygon — where the legislation requires the auction of blocks under the production sharing regime between the operator and the Union —, the nearby blocks located beyond 200 miles can be auctioned under a concession regime, in conventional ANP rounds, which will take place next year.

This modality is more attractive for the oil companies, which alone assume the exploration risk. In total, the 17th Round will offer 128 blocks in the maritime sedimentary basins of Pará-Maranhão, Potiguar, Campos, Santos and Pelotas, totaling 64,1 thousand square kilometers of area.

• Oil on Northeast beaches could reach Rio de Janeiro
• Engeman signs a contract with Petrobras and Chevron for offshore maintenance services in RJ