English 
Spanish 
4 min read
Mature oil and gas production fields that do not add to Petrobras are receiving investments for revitalization
The recent increases in the price of a barrel of oil end up becoming an incentive for companies to make investments to revitalize areas of Petrobras whose oil and gas production peak has passed, recognized as mature fields, which are those whose production peak has passed . However, these areas, even revitalized, would not be able to promote a major contribution to the increase in national production of oil and gas with the war between Russia and Ukraine.
According to Anabal Santos Júnior, executive secretary of the Brazilian Association of Independent Oil and Gas Producers (Abpip), the current price level for a barrel of oil, above US$ 100 and which has raised speculations about offshore oil and gas platforms, may allow certain actions to increase production, which were previously not economically viable in these mature fields. “Some low-complexity revitalization projects, such as interventions in wells, are benefited in this scenario”, says the executive secretary.
Furthermore, Bento Albuquerque, Minister of Mines and Energy, said that domestic oil production will grow by around 300 barrels per day, even if the IEA recommendation is to reduce consumption, thus contributing to balance the international market, impacted by the decrease in exports from Russia after the beginning of the conflict. According to Santos Júnior, contact has not yet been made with Abpip to help with this task. The association has 18 oil companies, such as, for example, Eneva and PetroRio.
- With the major discovery of 13 oil reservoirs, the country is preparing to enter the select group of African producing countries, with the potential to revolutionize its economy
- Petrobras is being sued and could lose billions after decision that could lead to mass layoffs
- $323 million oil rig runs aground after storm, video shocks offshore world in Tunisia
- Petrobras can celebrate! Exploration of new pre-salt layer that promises to yield BILLIONS of barrels of oil for the state-owned company should finally be authorized, says minister
In fact, the contribution of mature fields to the overall production of the country is not very significant, but the sector has been experiencing growth in extraction due to the sale of Petrobras assets – whose president was replaced - in the last years. In this way, small and medium-sized oil companies have appropriated mature onshore fields and in shallow waters, corresponding to smaller assets that are no longer of interest to Petrobras, which has focused mainly on oil extraction activities in deep waters and in pre-production. salt.
Production from mature fields
In total, according to data provided by the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), the mature fields on land sold by Petrobras provided 34,7 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/day) last month, equivalent to almost triple of the total extracted in February 2021. On the other hand, extraction is only a portion of the national total, which reached 3,75 million boe/day in February, of which more than 75% come from the pre-salt layer.
Onshore oil and gas production in Brazil originates mainly from northeastern basins. Production growth is seen in several companies that have acquired Petrobras assets in recent years. For example, PetroRecôncavo recorded an average production of 4 thousand boe/day in 21Q13,6, 21% more than the annual average. 3R Petroleum, in turn, produced 7,95 thousand barrels/day in the last quarter of last year, an increase of 44% compared to 2020.
Santos Júnior claims that they have a scenario of at least five years ahead of production growth. However, an obstacle for the oil companies that bought these assets to increase production is the difficulty in reaching equipment and services, which end up becoming more expensive and competitive in this context of instability in the barrel of oil.
The Abpip executive points out that the supply chain for this sector in Brazil was demobilized a few years ago, due to low investments in small fields. He says that, in this context, there is currently a great demand in the country for drilling and completion rigs, for example. “What exists on the market today is practically contracted. It will take an effort from the supply chain itself to make these inputs available”, he points out.
Still, Santos Júnior points out that the areas with the highest production on land among the assets included in the divestments of mature fields by Petrobras have not yet completed the transaction, such as, for example, the Potiguar (RN), Carmópolis (SE) and Bahia ( BA). According to him, these fields continue to experience declines in production, a situation that can be reversed after other companies take over.
