Brazil offers itself as a safe harbor for oil investments

On Monday, September 26, Brazil offered itself as a “safe harbor” for hydrocarbon investments, which according to industry estimates, could reach US$183 billion in the next decade.

Authorities and business people of the sector invited the private sector to invest in the hydrocarbons sector during the opening ceremony of Rio Oil & Gas, the largest national conference and fair in this sector.

Both the Minister of Mines and Energy, Adolfo Sachsida, and the president of the Brazilian Petroleum Industry (IBP), Roberto Ardenghy, said that the current international and national situation makes Brazil a priority destination for oil investments.

THE MARKET FOR BRAZIL

“We are offering the best legal framework to provide predictability and legal certainty to investments,” said Sachsida when listing the measures adopted by the Brazilian government to accelerate the opening of the hydrocarbons market.

The minister affirmed that the war in Ukraine caused a deep crisis in the world energy market and made it clear that Brazil is one of the few that could contribute to normalizing the situation.

He stated that Brazil increased its production by 11% in the last four years, up to 3.7 million barrels per day of oil and gas equivalent and that the forecast is to increase it by 73% in the next six years.

According to the authorities’ forecasts, Brazil expects to jump from ninth place among the largest oil producers to fifth place in the next ten years.

OIL GAS PRODUCTION

Sachsida said that Brazil expects to raise R$1.3 billion (US$ 243 million) in licenses and another R$2.3 billion in investments through an oil auction to be held on December 16.

Thirteen major oil companies have registered for this auction, including the multinationals Shell, Total Energies, BP Energy, and Chevron, which will bid for eleven areas in the pre-salt, a rich oil horizon in the deep waters of the Atlantic.

Brazil already extracts 75.3% of its total production from the pre-salt, 2.7 million barrels of oil, and 90.7 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.

According to Sachsida, in addition to the pre-salt, Brazil will offer new exploratory frontiers, such as the so-called Equatorial Margin, a marine area in front of the mouth of the Amazon, where Guyana has discovered gigantic reserves.

The minister acknowledged that the environmental authorities had taken eleven years to grant the license to exploit the Equatorial Margin but that, once granted, Brazil will be able to exploit “one of the greatest opportunities in its history with safety and sustainability”.

With information from El Periódico de la Energía

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