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Petrobras Shifts Focus to the Campos Basin, Heavily Investing in Revitalization of Mature Wells. With Advanced Technologies, the State-Owned Company Aims to Increase Production and Compensate for Environmental Impasses in Areas Like the Mouth of the Amazon.
Petrobras looks to the past while the future of oil exploration in Brazil appears uncertain.
With a decades-long history of deepwater exploration, the state-owned company is now betting on the revitalization of the Campos Basin, located between the coasts of Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo.
This decision, however, is not driven solely by nostalgia: there is a strategy for survival and growth at play, as the license to explore new areas on the northern coast, such as the Mouth of the Amazon, remains without environmental approval.
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The strategy of Petrobras in the Campos Basin stands out at a time when the state-owned company faces challenges to expand its operations on the northern coast of the country.
The Equatorial Margin, which includes the Mouth of the Amazon, has already been denied once by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), blocking a project that could generate 350,000 jobs.
According to O Globo, the company then decided to redirect its efforts to more mature production fields, betting on cutting-edge technologies and recovery techniques to extract oil still present in areas explored since the 1970s.
An Ambitious Comeback for the Campos Basin
Under the leadership of Magda Chambriard, President of Petrobras and reservoir engineer, the state-owned company plans to invest heavily in the Campos Basin, with a long-term plan to expand reserves.
According to the executive, there is significant production potential in the region, with the possibility of recovering up to the same amount of oil and gas that has been extracted over the last 50 years.
For the revitalization of the Campos Basin, Petrobras has relied on modern well recovery techniques and the repurposing of old platforms, which had their retirement suspended.
Today, it is estimated that the region has a recovery factor of only 17%, suggesting a considerable volume of oil still available for extraction.
“The production in Campos has a recovery factor of 17%. With current techniques, the expectation is to maintain production for another 40 to 50 years, extracting the same volume produced to date,” stated Magda Chambriard at a recent event.
Goals and Billion-Dollar Investments by 2028
The Campos Basin, currently responsible for about 20% of Petrobras’ own production — equivalent to 450,000 barrels per day — is set to gain even more importance.
According to O Globo, the goal is to increase production to 600,000 barrels daily by 2028, a considerable jump that will require investments estimated at over US$ 22 billion.
In Petrobras’ new business plan, effective from 2025 to 2029, the Campos Basin solidifies as the top priority, with the company planning a set of nine areas that will receive investments and new exploration opportunities.
These investments will be directed both toward the reactivation of mature fields and the development of new extraction techniques.
Petrobras is betting on technologies such as 3D and 4D seismic to map reserves in detail, as well as the use of artificial intelligence and reinjection of gas and water to facilitate extraction.
According to experts, the efficiency of these technologies can raise the recovery rate to up to 40%, bringing the Campos Basin closer to levels observed in other producing regions worldwide, such as the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea.
Petrobras: Challenges and Alternatives for an Uncertain Future
Despite the recovery potential, Petrobras faces significant challenges in implementing this strategy.
High costs and the lack of new equipment are barriers identified by industry analysts.
According to Luiz Hayum, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie, new platforms have become about 40% more expensive since 2021, which complicates the procurement of essential equipment for operations.
Another issue is the long-term contracts of reactivated platforms.
Platforms like P-51 in Marlim Sul, which produces 30,000 barrels daily, will have their lifespan extended until 2052, despite the initial prediction of ending operations in 2034.
The cost of this extension, estimated at US$ 600 million, is yet another demonstration of Petrobras’ commitment to the region but at the same time represents a financial risk.
Experts note that profit margins for mature fields are lower, which increases pressure on Petrobras.
According to Rodrigo Almeida, an analyst at Santander, the revitalization of the Campos Basin is part of a growing trend in Brazil, where oil companies are being encouraged to optimize their mature fields amid the environmental impasse in new exploratory areas.
For Almeida, this revitalization strategy is an “inevitable movement” due to the challenges in obtaining licenses and rising costs.
A Global-Scale Project and New Technological Frontiers
According to the revitalization program released by Petrobras, the Campos Basin represents the largest mature asset recovery project in deep waters in the world.
This magnitude is a competitive differentiator for the state-owned company and, at the same time, a bet on a more sustainable production model, requiring less base infrastructure and repurposing old wells.
In the view of industry consultants, one of Petrobras’ main strengths is its experience in deep waters, combined with the use of cutting-edge technologies to extend the lifespan of fields.
With advanced reservoir analysis techniques, such as 3D and 4D seismic, the company can monitor the movement of oil underground, identifying areas with potential productivity increases.
This technological front, highlighted by O Globo, also includes the use of artificial intelligence to optimize processes and reduce waste, as well as gas reinjection to increase well pressure.
The case of the Marlim field is a practical example: Petrobras estimates that revitalization will allow the extraction of 860 million additional barrels by the end of the concession in 2048.
Que tal produzir o pre sal da bacia de campos?