The estimates that the ANP is making available are based on forecasts of activities in blocks and fields and production volumes of wells and fields declared by the companies.

According to information recently released by the ANP, 818 wells on land and 393 offshore wells are expected to be drilled between 2019 and 2023. Expectations are for the operators' investment plans with exploratory blocks and contracted production fields in Brazil. This year, Petrobras began production of the P-67 (Lula) and P-76 and P-77 (Búzios) and  P-68 (Cockle) is planned.

If implemented, it is estimated subsidies in the order of R$ 3,2 billion in 2019 in exploration wells. If production projects are included, it is estimated that more than BRL 130 billion will be spent on drilling and completion by 2023.

With all investments in platforms, collection systems and other expenses, the expectation for the period is R$ 326 billion.

The estimates that the ANP is making available are based on forecasts of activities in blocks and fields and production volumes of wells and fields declared by the companies, and may change, depending on the uncertainties inherent to the variables considered, as well as updates and revisions of these estimates by the operators.

The forecast for this year is that 169 wells will be drilled on land and 78 at sea. Only 80 onshore and 24 offshore were drilled until the first week of this month.

The agency's survey assumes the drilling of 16 exploration wells at sea and 23 on land, but so far, five have been started at sea and 11 on land.

Equinor continues with the campaign in Carcará and Shell, in the south of Gato do Mato, projects in the Santos Basin pre-salt. Petrobras has resumed the project in deep waters of the Sergipe Basin, where it is seeking a partner to develop giant oil and natural gas reserves.

Four platforms are expected to start operating this year and ten more between 2020 and 2023, which will require the 315 wells included in the forecast, according to the ANP survey.

In addition to the new platforms, the forecast of wells is associated with the development (ramp-up) of systems already installed, as is the case of the FPSO Cidade de Caraguatatuba, in the Lapa field, whose operation was taken over by Total E&P.

In onshore fields, the biggest exploration campaign is by Eneva, in Parnaíba, which started five exploration wells this year. The company plans to issue BRL 1 billion in infrastructure debentures for exploratory investments and in the development of natural gas fields, integrated to power generation, in Maranhão.

Alvopetro and Imetame (Recôncavo), BGM (Espírito Santo) and Rosneft (Solimões) complete the list of companies exploring the Brazilian onshore in 2019.

There are opportunities in the Brazilian market for expanding operators, with projects not yet formalized and, therefore, not captured in this ANP survey. This is the case of companies that buy Petrobras fields, both offshore and onshore, and new auctions scheduled to take place in the period.

As of September 5, the ANP began to provide annual forecasts on oil and natural gas development and production activities for the next five years. Consultations available on the agency's website.

by – epbr

Santos Basin employs around 10 workers