$13 Billion Investments in Petrobras’ Campos Basin, World Leader in Oil Exploration and Production, Promise to Generate Jobs, Taxes, Royalties, Special Shares, and Dividends

Owner of World-Class Assets and High Value Generation, Petrobras Will Install Three New Platforms in the Campos Basin, and Many Jobs Will Be Created in the Next Five Years

Despite recently selling the Papa-Terra field to 3R Petroleum, Petrobras plans to invest US$ 13 billion in business in the Campos Basin from 2021 to 2025, mainly for the revitalization of oil fields and promises to generate jobs, taxes, royalties, special participations, and dividends. At the same time, companies that acquired fields in the region previously operated by Petrobras have promoted a revitalization of the oil and gas sector and prospects for growth in local economies.

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At least six new companies have begun operations in the region, with prospects for boosting production. Increased production will yield greater returns for society through taxes, royalties, special participations, jobs, and dividends. According to data from the Federation of Industries of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Firjan), four of the companies that purchased assets in the region have already presented development plans totaling R$ 13.2 billion.

To invest in the revitalization of its fields in the Campos Basin, Petrobras has been reallocating investments through active portfolio management, which aims to be engaged in businesses compatible with Petrobras’s size. Thus, the company has focused on assets with the potential to generate more value in the medium and long term and the possibility of higher profitability. In the region, this strategic reallocation of investments has already accumulated about US$ 3.7 billion obtained from the sale of assets such as 50% of the Tartaruga Verde and Espadarte fields, Frade Field, Pampo Cluster, Enchova Cluster, and Pargo Cluster.

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Another positive aspect of this strategy is that with new owners, these assets have received investments for production enhancement, leading to consequent returns for society through taxes and participations. In other words, increased production means greater returns for society. Under the concession regime, government participations consist of signature bonuses, royalties, special participations, and payments for the occupation or retention of areas beyond normal business activity taxes such as ICMS, ISS, PIS, Cofins, IRPJ, CSSL, among others. In 2020, Petrobras paid R$ 32 billion in Government Participations, totaling R$ 244 billion in the last six years.

Three New Platforms and 100 Oil Production Wells

As a world leader in deep and ultra-deep water exploration and production, Petrobras currently produces 710,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) per day in the Campos Basin, representing 25% of oil and gas production in Brazil. There are about 280 producing wells and 29 offshore platforms in operation – producing both pre-salt and post-salt. Petrobras’s strategy is to continue producing strongly in this important oil basin, and a major renewal plan is underway, with investments already being made and planned for the coming years. In the past 10 years, Petrobras invested US$ 53 billion in the region, putting into operation more than 270 wells, in addition to 10 new production systems.

As an owner of world-class assets with high value generation, Petrobras will install three new platforms in the Campos Basin over the next five years. The installation of two platforms in the Marlim field is scheduled for 2023, with a combined capacity to produce 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) and process 560,000 barrels of liquids per day – and a unit planned for 2024 for the integrated complex of the Whale Park, with the potential to produce 100,000 bpd of oil alone and process 240,000 barrels of liquids per day.

The plan to extend production from one of the largest deep-water oil complexes in the industry will allow the two Marlim platforms to expand the production of the fields until 2048, continuously generating wealth and maintaining jobs and support services in the region. The platforms will be interconnected to 77 wells (14 new and 63 that will be relocated from Production Units that will be decommissioned). The new systems will allow for the increase of current production from Marlim and Voador by approximately 45,000 boepd (barrels of oil equivalent per day), providing an important opportunity for learning and knowledge for other revitalization projects. There is also a plan to connect about 100 new wells to the already installed production systems in the Campos Basin. Between 2017 and 2019, Petrobras acquired 14 exploratory blocks, covering a total area of 12,000 km² – which is practically the extent of a new Campos Basin. Most of the promising prospects are located in the pre-salt layer of this basin.

Revitalization Investments Will Provide Countless Gains Not Only for Petrobras but for All Brazilian People

The expertise in revitalizing mature fields comes from the accumulated knowledge about such reservoirs in exploratory activities and production development at Petrobras and the development of technologies, driven by its highly qualified technical team. As it progresses, the process will enable further knowledge acquisition and efficiency gains to be implemented in the revitalization of other areas in the future, as this is the dynamic that drives the capital-intensive oil and gas industry and the generation of benefits for societies.

Beyond extending the lifespan of fields, investments in revitalization will provide countless gains not only for Petrobras but for all of society. In addition to the evident financial returns generated by increased production from the fields over time, the robust investments to be made by Petrobras in the revitalization of the Campos Basin will disseminate and extend the impact — such as economic activity movement and job creation — that such activities have generated for decades in Rio de Janeiro municipalities and across the country.