New pre-salt layer in northern Brazil could hold up to 30 billion barrels of oil equivalent off the coast of Amapá, Pará and Maranhão

Brazil discovers a new pre-salt layer! Scientific study that highlights the broad oil potential in the northern oceanic fringe of the national territory, comprising Maranhão, Pará and Amapá it was delivered to the president of the Federation of Industries of Maranhão (Fiema), Edilson Baldez, in January this year, and has already opened a dispute between companies and environmental agencies. 

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In the deep and ultra-deep waters of the Pará-Maranhão Basin, there are approximately 30 billion barrels of oil in risked recoverable prospective resources. This is what the document “A new 'Pre-Salt' in the Northern Arch of Brazilian Territory” says, authored by Allan Kardec Duailibe Barros Filho, professor at the Federal University of Maranhão (UFMA), Ronaldo Gomes Carmona, professor of Geopolitics at the Escola War Superior (ESG), and Pedro Victor Zalán, president of ZAG Oil Exploration Consulting.

Of this total, 13 billion barrels could actually become discovered reserves, considering a success rate of 45%, especially in Maranhão. In the pre-salt layer, there are 40 billion barrels.

“The first step is to put it up for bids, because the land belongs to Brazil, so some government agency has to put it up for bids for companies to acquire. Who does this is the National Petroleum Agency (ANP). There are several bidding rounds. For example, this year there is the 17th round, which we didn't enter. We want to enter the 18th round”, explained Maranhão specialist Allan Kardec Barros Filho, who was once director of the ANP.

New pre-salt and environmental regulation

Afraid of the environmental damage that the activity could cause in these states, the government opted to exclude, from oil auctions until 2022, the blocks located in this basin.

Some oil companies, which went so far as to buy concessions for areas in the Foz do Amazonas Basin, on the coast of Amapá and Pará, were never able to receive approval from IBAMA. An example is the French company Total, which, after two failed attempts to obtain a license, gave up on the business and preferred to pass it on to Petrobras.

According to Ibama, economic activity could compromise the survival of coral reefs, which would extend from Amapá to Maranhão. The agency also sees risks to the Parcel de Manuel Luís Marine State Park, located on the coast of Maranhão, a marine flora and fauna conservation unit.

Petrobras owns three blocks in the Pará-Maranhão basin

The state-owned company owns three blocks in the Pará-Maranhão basin, but there is still no extraction. Enauta, another medium-sized Brazilian oil company, has two blocks in the basin, but has not yet drilled in any of them. The company classified the region as strategic for its business, and “of high prospective value”.

The National Petroleum Agency says it maintains constant conversations with Ibama, but, so far, there is no forecast to include the areas in its bids. At the same time, he states that he continues to study the basin and has had positive results.