For the first time, a cargo of Government oil was sold directly to a refinery.This Wednesday (March 6), the Mataripe Refinery won the direct sales bid held by Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) for selling the Brazilian Government’s third oil cargo of 500,000 barrels, yielded by Atapu’s production sharing contract.The cargo will be available for shipment in April.

All companies already operating in the pre-salt layer were invited to participate, in addition to PRIO and the Mataripe Refinery.Three companies submitted bids:Galp, Petrobras and Mataripe Refinery.  All bids were based on the Brent prices and were opened in real time during a meeting held through the Teams platform between PPSA and representatives of the bidding companies.  The Mataripe Refinery is located in São Francisco do Conde (BA), with logistical assets in Madre de Deus (BA).

The first cargo from Atapu, also with 500,000 barrels, was sold in January 2023 to Galp Energia Brasil.In August last year, another batch of 500,000 barrels was sold to Equinor also through direct sales.

Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) hired consultancy company Telemétrica Sensoriamento Remoto on February 29, to provide refining consultancy services. The hiring is in compliance with the provision of the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE), which establishes that PPSA should carry out studies with technical and economic evaluation of prioritization mechanisms for the national supply of petroleum-derived fuels.

Telemétrica won the bid, in the electronic auction modality, held by PPSA on January 30, with five other bidding companies. Telemétrica shall have up to 120 days to prepare a report on mechanisms for aggregating the value of the Government’s oil, through refining and processing service contracts in Brazil, or long-term contracts for the purchase and sale of Government oil, with the objective of expanding the national refining and petrochemical chain.

During the same period, the company will also deliver a report on the technical and economic feasibility of the proposed mechanisms. By the end of the work, the final technical reports will be presented during a workshop event.

The drill ship Marechal Duque de Caxias left this Saturday, February 24, from Yantai, China, heading to the Mero field, operated by Petrobras, at the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin. The drill ship will be commissioned next September, and is capable of producing up to 180,000 barrels of oil and compress up to 12 million cubic meters of gas every day.

The unit is chartered by Petrobras from MISC and will be part of Mero’s 3rd definitive production system, increasing the field’s installed production capacity to 590,000 oil barrels per day. This production system comprises the interconnection of 15 wells to the unit, 8 oil producers and 7 water and gas injectors, through a subsea infrastructure of 80 km of rigid production and injection pipelines, 47 km of flexible service pipelines and 44 km of control umbilicals.

The rig is classified as an FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading unit, as per its English acronym), will be interconnected to the HISEP equipment, which will separate the oil and gas at the seabed, from where it aims to pioneer the reinjection the CO2-rich gas.

Mero is the third largest field in Brazil in terms in place oil volume (which may be recovered at the reservoir), behind only Tupi and Búzios, also located in the Santos Basin pre-salt layer. In addition to FPSO Duque de Caixas, Petrobras will commission another unit into operation at Mero in 2025.

Unified Mero field operations are carried out by the consortium operated by Petrobras (38.6%), in partnership with Shell Brasil (19.3%), TotalEnergies (19.3%), CNOOC (9.65%), CNPC (9.65%) and Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A (PPSA) (3.5%), as a representative of the Federal Government in the non-contracted area.

PPSA also acts as the contract manager and sells the portion of oil under Governmental law. Mero was the Federal Government’s main oil producer in 2023, producing 11.1 million of the 17 million barrels that the Brazilian Government was entitled to in 2023. There’s a lot more to come!

Click here and learn more about the Brazilian Government’s annual production.

CNOOC, a Chinese production company operating in the pre-salt layer, won the direct sale process carried out by Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) this Wednesday (21), to sell the Federal Government’s third oil cargo of 500,000 barrels from Atapu’s production sharing contract. The cargo will be available for shipment in April.

All companies already operating in the pre-salt layer were invited to participate, in addition to PRIO and the Mataripe Refinery. Five companies submitted bids: CNOOC, Galp, Petrobras, Mataripe Refinery and Equinor. All price offers were opened in real time during a meeting held through the Teams platform between PPSA and representatives of the bidding companies, This is the first time that CNOOC has purchased a cargo from the Federal Government. The company is a party in the sharing contracts for Búzios, Pau-Brasil, Libra and Alto de Cabo Frio Oeste.

For the first time, PPSA sold cargoes based on the Brent price. Until then, sales were made based on the reference price established by the National Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP). It was the most competitive sale held by the Federal Government, with the largest number of bidding companies.

Galp Energia Brasil and Petrobras won the two Sépia cargoes sold, respectively, in August 2022 and July 2023.

The average production of sharing contracts, in November, reached the milestone of 1 million barrels per day (bpd), a 6% increase compared to the previous month, due to the operational stability on the rigs. The Búzios field was the main producer, responsible for 526.81 thousand bpd, followed by Mero (219.90 thousand bpd) and Sépia (99.85 thousand bpd).

Of this total, 52,000 bpd was legally entitled to the Brazilian Government, coming from the eight production sharing contracts and the production individualization agreements (AIPs) of Atapu and Tupi.

The data was released in the Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) Production Bulletin this Tuesday (January 16).For Tabita Loureiro, deputy chairwoman of the state-controlled company, the result is an important milestone for the sharing regime in Brazil.“This result of 1 million barrels per day is a milestone for the sharing regime, which already represents 27% of national production.Brazil’s production between December 2022 and November 2023 increased 20%, also driven by the results of sharing contracts, whose production increased 32% in the same period.Our forecast is to exceed 2 million barrels per day in 2029, considering only the nine commercial contracts”, highlighted Tabita.

Since 2017, start of the historical series, accrued production under the production sharing system amounts to 635 million oil barrels, of which 35.79 million barrels are legally entitled to the Brazilian Government.

Natural gas

Five contracts produce natural gas for commercial use, with an average of 2.6 million m³/day, with most (2.06 million) coming from Búzios.The result more than doubles that of the previous month, due to the resume of exports from the P-77, in Búzios, and use of the export window in Sépia, with FPSO Carioca.

 Since 2017, accrued production amounts to 1.74 billion m³ of natural gas with commercial use, of which 177.1 million m³ being entitled to the Brazilian Government.

 Access here the Bulletin.

Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) reached ten years of operation last Sunday (November 12), reaching the milestone of over BRL 13 billion raised for the Brazilian Government. The state-owned company, linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), was created in 2013 to manage contracts of the Pre-Salt Polygon production sharing regime and sell the shares of oil and natural gas under Brazilian law in these contracts. Over the past ten years, the sharing regime grew and generated development for the country, going from 1 to 23 contracts and 15 companies operating under this regime, in successful partnerships. Out of 23 contracts, 8 are in production. The sharing contracts have also generated around BRL 160 billion in government participation and taxes.

Today, sharing contracts account for 27% of national production. That equals to 982,000 barrels per day. PPSA estimates that, by the end of the decade, production under this regime will exceed 2 million barrels per day. With the volume produced to date, over 34 million oil barrels and 200 million cubic meters of natural gas under Brazilian law have already been sold by the company.

“PPSA is a consolidated state-owned company and has delivered concrete results for the Government, contributing to the development of Brazil. These results are just the beginning, and there is much more to be delivered. By the end of their lifespan, the nine contracts with declaration of commercial viability, alone, amount to BRL 2 trillion for the country, including government shares, oil and gas sales and taxes, in addition to BRL 700 billion in investments. All this means employment, income and resources for education and health. We are fully supported by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, to play our role and prepare for the next leap with the increase in contract production and accomplishment of new actions that are being designed by the Ministry of Mines and Energy”, says Tabita Loureiro, Chief Technical Officer and Deputy Chairwoman of PPSA.

Over the past ten years, the company also approved ten production individualization agreements, ensuring a greater Government participation in the pre-salt layer.

Celebration of 10 Years

To celebrate the company’s anniversary, the MME and PPSA shall hold a ceremony on November 21 in the Brazilian Noble Hall of the Geological Survey (SGB), attended by Minister Alexandre Silveira. On that occasion, the temporary exhibition “Pre-Salt and Society – 10 years of the production sharing regime” will be inaugurated at the Earth Sciences Museum (Micter), which is part of the SGB, in Urca (RJ). The exhibition is a partnership between PPSA, Micter, SGB and MME.

This is a temporary exhibition, which will remain open to visitors between November 22, 2023 and January 31, 2024. Admission is free. Over 10,000 people are expected to visit the exhibition, which tells the story of how oil is explored in the pre-salt layer, over 7,000 meters deep, and how it generates wealth, employment, income, health and education for Brazilian society.  Samples of rocks and cores, oil extracted in different pre-salt fields and models of equipment used by the industry for oil exploration and production will be among the exhibited articles. The evolution of sharing contracts over the past ten years and PPSA’s performance will also be presented, showcasing how the company generates value for society.

The materials presented in the exhibition were provided by companies Bureau Veritas, ExxonMobil, Galp, Sedimentary Geology Laboratory – UFRJ, Modec, Petrobras, Shell Brasil, SLB, TechnipFMC and Vallourec.

On November 22, PPSA shall hold the Pré-Sal Petróleo Technical Forum – 10 years of history.  The event opening will be performed by Pietro Mendes, Secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), with attendance of several authorities and executives from the oil and gas industry for discussions in three panels: “Paths for development of the natural gas market in Brazil and the role of PPSA”; “The appeal of pre-salt” and “Pre-salt decarbonization initiatives”. The Forum will be broadcast live on the agency’s YouTube channel epbr.  See the schedule here https://www.presalpetroleo.gov.br/forum-tecnico-ppsa-10-anos/

During the Forum, the company will launch its annual study detailing production estimates and revenue from sharing contracts for the next ten years. “We will show the expected growth in contracts, which will turn into benefits for society as a whole. The good results show that exploration in the Pre-salt Polygon needs to be encouraged and continued. Today, 65% of the area still remains uncontracted. Potencializa E&P, a program of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, is currently studying ways to make sharing contracts more appealing and adapt them to this new reality of greater exploratory risk, exploring opportunities in both pre-salt and post-salt layers. We want more contracts. These are important for ensuring resources for society and are invaluable to Brazil’s energy sovereignty and self-reliance.”, concluded Tabita.

Petrobras’ P-71 drill ship reached peak production of 150,000 barrels of oil per day, last Wednesday (November 8), at the Santos Basin pre-salt layer. The FPSO (floating production, storage and offloading unit, as per English acronym) is the only production platform installed in Itapu, 200 kilometers off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. This field is operated by Petrobras, with 100% participation, under two regimes, Assignment for Consideration and Production Sharing. Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) is the Production Sharing contract manager, with co-participation in the Assignment for Consideration contract.

The P-71 is the sixth replicant FPSO installed in the Santos Basin. Replicants are characterized by standardized engineering design and high production capacity. Furthermore, they include advanced technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions such as, for example, FGRS (Flare Gas Recovery System), used to take advantage of the gas generated in the production process and reduce burning and exhausts into the atmosphere.

Photograph: Agência Petrobras.

Petrobras reported that drilling ship Almirante Barroso, which operates in the Búzios field, at the Santos Basin pre-salt layer, reached peak production of 150,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) on October 24.  This result was achieved in record time: it took 146 days (less than five months) since first oil. Petrobras’ previous record was that of FPSO P-76, which reached maximum production capacity in less than eight months, also in the Búzios field. The Almirante Barroso drill ship is an FPSO, in other words, a floating production, storage and offloading unit (as per its English acronym) and began commercial production on May 31st of this year.

In the project’s submarine system, with the incorporation of innovative solutions in the installation of rigid pipelines, a 15% reduction was attained in average well interconnection time, directly contributing to the record ramp-up time.

Chartered from Modec, the rig is located 180 km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, at a water depth of 1,900 meters. Petrobras is the field operator with 88.99% stake in the shared Búzios deposit, with CNOOC as partners with 7.34% and CNODC with 3.67%.

“Thanks to the commitment of our technical staff and the adoption of new technologies, we will continue to attain exceptional results in Búzios, with the implementation of eleven units with high production capacity, equipped with the most modern decarbonization technologies”, states Carlos Travassos, Chief Engineering, Technology and Innovation Officer.

Latest records – reaching top production:

– FPSO Almirante Barroso in the Búzios field, Santos Basin – Top production in 146 days (less than 5 months) – Production of 150,000 barrels per day.

– FPSO P-76, in the Búzios field, Santos Basin – Top production in 234 days (less than eight months)

– FPSO Guanabara in the Mero field, Santos Basin – Top production in 249 days (eight months) – Production of 180,000 barrels per day.

Photograph: Agência Petrobras

The accumulated production under the sharing regime exceeds milestone of 500 million oil barrels. Production began in 2017 at the formerly called Mero Development Area. Today, seven contracts are in operation, with 13 FPSOs (drill ships) reaching a total of 518 million barrels produced until July.  The Búzios, Mero and Sépia fields are the main producers in this regime. Over the past six years, the accumulated production of natural gas for commercial use also increased and amounted to 1.44 billion m³.

The accumulated installments entitled to the Brazilian government in these contracts reached, in the same period, 30 million oil barrels and 167.20 million m³ of natural gas with commercial use. The Brazilian Government’s production takes into account the percentage of surplus oil in each field and the volume of recovered costs in each project. For this reason, the main contributions came from the Mero, Sapinhoá and Búzios fields. As for the Government’s natural gas, most of the production comes from the Sapinhoá Field.

Data are from the Monthly Bulletin of Production Sharing Contracts, published this Friday (September 15) by contract manager Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA).

July Production 

Average daily contract production keeps rising. It reached a new high in July, at 899,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), with emphasis on production in Búzios (474,000 bpd) and Mero (217,000 bpd). Out of this total, 43.56 thousand bpd were legally entitled to the Brazilian Government.

The average daily production of natural gas available for export was 3 million m³/day, an 11% increase compared to the previous period. The average of the Government’s total available natural gas surplus was 46,000 m³/day, with Búzios accounting for the most part (40,000 m³/day).

Access the Monthly Bulletin of Production Sharing Contracts: https://www.presalpetroleo.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Boletim_mensal-JUL2023-v2.pdf

Production was 845,000 barrels a day in January

Production sharing contracts broke a new record in January 2023, producing an average of 845,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil. This volume is almost double that recorded in January 2022. Out of seven contracts currently in production, four played a key role: Búzios, Sépia, Mero and Atapu.

Data are from the Monthly Bulletin of Production Sharing Contracts, published by Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA), contract manager. The January outcome is 11% higher than December 2021 due to an operational improvement in the Búzios Field, which yielded a volume of 428,000 bpd, followed by 212,000 bpd in Libra and 101,000 bpd in Sépia.

The Federal Government’s oil surplus also followed this increase, with a production of 42.9 thousand bpd. The main contributions were from Libra (32.17 thousand bpd) and Búzios (6.04 thousand bpd). For comparison purposes, in January 2022, the Federal Government’s share was 16.7 thousand barrels per day.

The total accumulated production under the production sharing regime, since 2017, is 369 million oil barrels. The Federal Government’s accumulated share of oil in the same period is 22.76 million barrels.

Natural gas

In relation to natural gas with commercial use, the contracts showed production of 2.28 million m³/day. The yield is 17% higher than in the previous month due to the performance improvement in the Búzios Field, which was responsible for 2.12 million m³/day, followed by 140,000 m³/day in Entorno de Sapinhoá and 24,000 m³/day in Sudoeste of Tartaruga Verde.

The Federal Government’s share was 54,000 m³/day, 30,000 m³/day in Búzios, 24,000 m³/day in Entorno de Sapinhoá and 4 m³/day in Sudoeste Tartaruga Verde, for a 57% reduction in relation to previous period, due to instability in gas exports in Sapinhoá.

Since 2017, the accumulated volume of natural gas amounts to 1 billion m³. The surplus that the Federal Government is entitled to is 151.30 million m³.

Read the newsletter: https://www.presalpetroleo.gov.br/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Boletim_mensal-JAN2023-v2.pdf