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Oil and gas | Oil companies await major discoveries in exploratory blocks. Potential for discoveries and production viability are the focus.
O winning ticket mining in the exploration blocks of pre-salt is highlighted, since the Petrobras chose not to participate in the auction scheduled for this Wednesday (13/12). This will be the first auction under the sharing regime without the presence of Petrobras, which draws the attention of potential interested parties in the mining winning ticket.
Big companies multinationals are keeping an eye on winning ticket mining in the exploration blocks of pre-salt. The lack of interest of Petrobras opens space for new competitors, and the attempt of multinationals em mine o winning ticket during the auction will be closely monitored.
Large multinationals try to secure a winning ticket in a pre-salt auction
Winning ticket mining: this term was used by the former president of Petrobras, José Sergio Gabrielli, when referring to the exceptional geological potential of the pre-salt. No wonder, since the state-owned company did findings important in the pre-salt, such as the three largest producing fields in the country today: Mero, Búzios and Tupi, all located in the Santos Basin, but contracted under different regimes (onerous assignment, sharing and concession).
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Block auction comes to an end this month
The winning ticket continues to attract the attention of large oil multinationals, who entered the sharing sector after the reforms carried out under Michel Temer's government, but still live with the expectation of announcing a major commercial discovery in the region.
In this auction, which will have the participation of six companies — 5 of which are operators and one as a non-operator — the areas to be offered are Cruzeiro do Sul, Esmeralda, Jade and Tupinambá, in the Santos region.
Large discoveries and production fields attract multinationals
Sharing operations have attracted large oil multinationals, who seek to achieve significant discoveries and production feasibility, as is the case of the Mero field, which has established itself as the third largest producer in the country.
Furthermore, the pre-salt region still has potential for discoveries, which is reflected in the performance of companies in the pre-salt auction, such as bp, Chevron, CNOOC, CNPC, Equinor, ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies and Qatar Petroleum.
As a consequence, the auction is expected to shed more light on the viability and production potential of the oil areas that will be offered.
ANP does not see a weakening of competition with the absence of Petrobras
The National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) guarantees that the absence of Petrobras does not weaken competition in the auction, despite the state-owned company having been criticized in the past for previously exercising its right of preference in sharing.
Meanwhile, the absence of areas offered by Petrobras at the time of the auction opens space for a new chapter in mining for the winning ticket, with a variety of oil fields available in the sharing auction.
New areas up for auction in Lula's third government
The auction that will take place marks a milestone in the third Lula government, with the offer of oil areas. This initiative even reinforces the criticism of environmentalists against the expansion of the oil and gas frontier in Brazil and its impact on the emissions balance, especially with Brazil's accession to OPEC+.
Therefore, we are facing a context of great expectations regarding the potential for new oil discoveries in the auction promoted, which reflects the intense exploratory campaigns, especially in the Santos Basin.
Oil discovery and production opportunities on the sector’s radar
According to consultant and former ANP director, Felipe Kury, exploratory campaigns are still ongoing, opening up opportunities for discoveries of large volumes of oil.
An area that has attracted a lot of attention is the Aram block, in the Santos Basin, which has great potential to guarantee a significant new discovery that will contribute to the expansion of oil production.
Reality of risks and recent campaign results
The pre-salt exploratory environment, however, is not free from risks, as recent exploration campaigns show. This is the case of the Dois Irmãos block, in the Campos Basin, auctioned in the 4th round of sharing, but returned in 2022 after failing to announce significant discoveries.
The same occurred with other blocks, such as Peroba, Saturno and southwest of Libra, which were returned, reflecting the uncertainties and challenges of the exploratory campaigns in Brazil. Furthermore, there are pending issues in other blocks that are still awaiting the availability of evaluation data and that remain hopeful about any significant discoveries.
Therefore, the pre-salt scenario continues to arouse the interest and commitment of companies, which seek to overcome the challenges and guarantee discoveries capable of sustaining oil production in Brazil. This is the context in which the winning ticket is inserted, the mining of which continues to drive the oil sector in the country.
Source: EPBR
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