Brazilian Congress is looting its own country, says Petrobras geologist.

By Fernando Brito, from brick - Ana Patrícia Laier, a geologist at Petrobras for 18 years, specializes in geological formations of oil reservoirs. Therefore, she knows what she's talking about when she didactically explains the "case" of the onerous transfer areas that Petrobras acquired during its capitalization process in 2010 and which have now been released by the Temer government and the majority of the Chamber of Deputies to be auctioned off, in 70% of cases, to companies, certainly foreign ones.

Essentially, these are areas within the Búzios field (formerly known as Franco) and others which, combined, represent a potential extraction of approximately 20 billion barrels. This is more than we currently have in certified oil reserves. In the capitalization deal, the Brazilian government sold to the state-owned company the right to explore the minimum estimated at the time, 5 billion barrels, with the provision that surplus deposits could be awarded to Petrobras under the production-sharing regime, sharing with the Brazilian government any excess production.

Moreover, as seismic studies and exploratory wells progressed, it became clear that the potential for oil reserves quadrupled. And with it, the expected gains for the Brazilian state increased, to around 650 billion reais.

With 70% of the land sold off, this value will naturally fall. That's why Dr. Laier is so astonished: "How can a Congress threaten to plunder its own country?"

The history of the pre-salt layer and what it means for the Brazilian people.

Ana Patrícia Laier, on the Engineering Club website.

The Transfer of Rights Agreement was the method found by the government in 2009/2010 to capitalize Petrobras for the exploration and development of the pre-salt layer, which is the largest oil province discovered (in the world) in more than 35 years. Before this, the North Sea had its first commercial discovery with Ekofisk in 1969, and the Santos pre-salt layer was discovered in 2006 with Parati (1-RJS-617D) and commercially with Tupi (1-RJS-628A), the discoverer of the Lula field.

Through the Onerous Transfer Law, the National Congress authorized the Union to sell to Petrobras the right to produce up to 5 billion barrels of oil from accumulations that the company might discover in 7 large areas, 6 definitive and non-transferable and one contingent, the Peroba area, recently auctioned. The law was sanctioned and the contract was signed between Petrobras and the Union. Two certification companies were hired to calculate the volumes, one by Petrobras and the other by the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels). Volumes were allocated in the 6 definitive areas: Franco (Búzios); South of Tupi (South of Lula); Florim (Itapu); Northeast of Tupi (Sépia); South of Guará (South of Sapinhoá) and Surroundings of Iara (North and South of Berbigão; North and South of Sururu, Atapu).

The project had been developed by a working group formed by technicians from ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) and Petrobras in 2009. Everything was done within the strictest legality and aimed at optimizing wealth for the entire Brazilian society. Something similar had been done by the Norwegian government before the partial privatization of Statoil with the sale of shares on the stock exchange in 2001. The Norwegian government sold part of its portfolio of holdings in oil and gas production fields to its state-owned oil and gas company.

For the right to produce 5 billion barrels of oil, Petrobras paid the Brazilian government US$42 billion (almost 75 billion reais). The government increased its stake in the state-owned company by reinvesting this money. The stock market fundraising was a success. Petrobras then began its exploratory campaign in these areas. It acquired 3D seismic surveys; drilled exploratory wells and confirmed the presence of accumulations of excellent quality oil (API gravity within the intermediate range) in excellent quality reservoirs in the pre-salt layer, a play (exploration area) that had already been proven at this point. Lula began its definitive production in 2010.

As stipulated in the Transfer of Rights Agreement, Petrobras declared commercial viability as it finalized the delimitation/evaluation phase of these accumulations and prepared the development plan to be submitted to the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels). Búzios and Sul de Lula were the first to have their commercial viability declared in December 2013. Itapu, Sul de Sapinhoá and Sépia followed in September 2014. And finally, in December 2014, the Norte and Sul de Berbigão, Norte and Sul de Sururu and Atapu fields had their commercial viability declared.

During the exploration and evaluation phase of the areas, Petrobras verified that there was much more oil and gas in them than had been acquired through the Transfer of Rights Agreement. Furthermore, following a development model that would optimize wealth generation for our society, the direct contracting of Petrobras to produce the surplus from the Transfer of Rights Agreement under a production-sharing regime was approved. This occurred at the meeting of the National Council for Energy Policy held on June 24, 2014, and chaired by Dilma Rousseff.

In 2014, the surplus was estimated to be between 9,8 and 15,2 billion barrels. This model will generate approximately R$ 650 billion for society, of which about R$ 500 billion will be allocated to education. Therefore, the recoverable volume of oil at stake is at least 20 billion barrels that Petrobras already had the right to produce. How can a Congress threaten to plunder its own country?! React, Brazilians!