Navy ship confirms that Equatorial Margin is Brazil’s “new pre-salt” – News of Brazil
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Cleber Barbosa
of the Editor
When announcing the second oil discovery in the Potiguar Basin, Petrobrás highlighted that the Equatorial Margin, considered the new and most promising exploratory frontier for oil and gas in deep waters, will be fundamental for the company’s future, guaranteeing the supply of oil necessary to the development of the country.
On Tuesday (9), the state-owned company announced the discovery of oil in the Anhangá exploratory well in the Potiguar Basin, on the border between Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará. The volume of oil is 2,196 meters deep and located at a point approximately 190 km from Fortaleza and 250 km from Natal.
In January of this year, the first proof of the presence of hydrocarbons in the Potiguar Basin was made at the Pitu Oeste Well, located approximately 24 km from Anhangá.
Petrobrás is the operator of both concessions and holds 100% interest.
In a statement, the state-owned company emphasized the prospecting carried out in the Anhangá well without any incident, further qualifying the company’s technical capacity to operate in sensitive environments.
“The company has a history of almost 3 thousand wells drilled in deep and ultra-deep water environments, without any type of complication or impact on the environment, which, combined with the technical capacity and experience accumulated over almost 70 years, enables the company to open new frontiers and handle operations in the Equatorial Margin with complete security”stated the president of Petrobrás, Jean Paul Prates.
“The exploratory activities in the Equatorial Margin represent another step in Petrobrás’ commitment to seeking the replacement of reserves and the development of new exploratory frontiers that ensure global energy demand is met during the energy transition”according to a note from Petrobrás.
The Equatorial Margin is considered the new pre-salt frontier, and extends from Rio Grande do Norte to Amapá. The state-owned company estimates investments of US$3.1 billion for research in the area, with the forecast of drilling 16 wells over these four years.
In this sense, Petrobrás is carrying out expeditions in the Equatorial Margin with researchers from Petrobrás, from the Geological Survey of Brazil (SGB) and 10 universities from states that make up the geographic region of the Equatorial Margin, in addition to two research institutions in the Southeast. The second scientific expedition began on March 30 on the Hydroceanographic Research Vessel (NPqHo) “Vital de Oliveira”, operated by the Brazilian Navy.
“For thirty days, scientists with different lines of research will be on board the vessel, mainly focused on in-depth studies on the region’s marine geology.”informed Petrobrás about the expedition on the ship Vidal de Oliveira.
In May last year, Ibama rejected the environmental licensing process for Petrobrás’ block FZA-M-59 in Amapá Águas Profundas. According to Petrobrás, the well drilling subject to this licensing is located at a distance of 175 kilometers from the coast of Amapá and more than 500 kilometers away from the mouth of the Amazon River.
“Petrobras reiterates that it strictly met all the requirements of the licensing process and all the resources mobilized in Amapá and Pará to carry out the Pre-Operational Assessment (simulated to test the emergency response plans) were made strictly in compliance with decisions and approvals from Ibama”the company announced at the time.
While Brazil awaits the decision on Amapá, its neighbor, Guyana, which discovered oil in the Equatorial Margin in 2015, with reserves estimated at 11 billion barrels of oil, one of the most needy countries in the region until then, saw its economy grow 64 % in 2022.
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