Petrobras and partnerships approve BRL 45 billion for natural gas – 05/08/2023 – Market

Petrobras, Equinor and Repsol Sinopec announced this Monday (8) an investment of US$ 9 billion (about R$ 45 billion) to produce a volume of natural gas equivalent to the current consumption of the state of São Paulo.

The three companies are partners in a project known as BM-C-33, in the Campos Basin, and approved the definitive investment in the development of the deposits, which have estimated reserves of one billion barrels of oil and gas.

When it starts operations, in 2028, the project will have the capacity to produce 126,000 barrels of oil and 16 million cubic meters of natural gas per day, which will be taken to the mainland by a new gas pipeline connecting the producing platform to Macaé, on the north coast. from Rio de Janeiro.

In the block, which is operated by Equinor, three oil and gas accumulations were discovered, preliminarily named Pão de Açúcar, Seat and Gávea. They are about 200 meters from the coast, in a water depth (distance between the surface and the bottom of the sea) of 2,900 meters.

The production platform will have as an innovation the ability to treat natural gas, sending the product already specified for sale to the mainland – in general, in current projects, the gas is treated in units installed on the coast.

“This development will contribute to the country’s energy security and economic development, creating new local job opportunities,” said Veronica Coelho, president of Equinor in Brazil, in a statement.

Of Norwegian origin, Equinor has 35% of the project, which was acquired in the seventh round of bidding by the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels), in 2005. A partnership between Spain and China, Repsol Sinopec has another 35%. Petrobras has the remaining 30%.

Coelho points out that the volume of gas produced by the field should represent 15% of the Brazilian market when the project goes into operation. “It is one of the main projects in the country to supply new volumes of gas, making a relevant contribution to the development of the domestic market,” he said.

Petrobras starts revitalization of field in Campos Basin

Also on Monday, Petrobras announced the start of operations on the Anna Nery platform, installed in the Marlim field, also in the Campos Basin. The unit is part of a project to revitalize the field, which was the largest oil producer in the country at the turn of the 2000s.

Anna Nery has the capacity to produce up to 70,000 barrels of oil and 4 million cubic meters of natural gas per day. In addition, the field will receive the Anita Garibaldi platform, with a capacity for 80,000 barrels of oil and 7 million cubic meters of natural gas per day.

Thus, the field’s production will rise from the current 43,000 barrels per day to around 150,000 barrels per day. According to the president of Petrobras, Jean Paul Prates, it is the largest revitalization project for a mature oil and gas field in the world.

“Through it, we will expand production, maintain jobs and open an important front of learning and knowledge for other similar projects throughout Brazil”, said the executive, who was on the platform this Sunday (7).

With the start of production in 1991, Marlim had ten oil production platforms in operation — currently, there are only four. The revitalization project provides for the removal of all of them, keeping only the two new units.