Pelotas Basin will see oil exploration.
The Pelotas Basin was defined as a new oil production frontier by the General Directorate of the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels), at the opening of Rio Oil & Gas 2014, in Rio de Janeiro; the area should be included in the next auction of oil exploration areas, announced for the first half of 2015.
Government of Rio Grande do Sul - The Pelotas Basin was defined as a new oil production frontier by the Director-General of the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), Magda Chambriard, at the opening of Rio Oil & Gas 2014, which took place on Monday (15) in Rio de Janeiro. "It's a game changer. The inclusion of the area will be an important victory for the State, the result of the effort we have made in the government to put the Rio Grande do Sul basin in Petrobras' immediate plans," celebrates the Secretary of Development and Investment Promotion, Mauro Knijnik. The area should be included in the next auction of oil exploration areas, announced for the first half of 2015.
The vice-president of the Rio Grande do Sul Development and Investment Promotion Agency (AGDI), Aloísio Nóbrega, points out that the Pelotas Basin had not participated in exploration area auctions for almost ten years. "Since 2005, the state had been off Petrobras' radar of possibilities. It seems that Pelotas has regained its status as a basin with oil potential," argues the executive.
Nóbrega explains that the prospect of inclusion points to a new horizon in the Southern Half of the state. If the area is auctioned off and its production potential is met, the region will undergo a cycle of progress, as happened with Macaé, on the coast of Rio de Janeiro, which went from being a fishing village to a city of 200 inhabitants. According to the vice-president of AGDI, a municipality will become the support base for exploration, attracting industries that supply the oil chain. The process requires port availability, but not on a large scale. Macaé's progress occurred over 15 years, considering that extraction begins around the fifth year of work.
The Pelotas Basin extends from Paraná to Uruguay, passing through Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. The area is similar in structure to the Uruguay Basin, which recently held a successful bidding round in an area near Brazil. Major international operators, such as the British companies BG and BT and the French company Total, have signed exploration contracts with the Uruguayan government.
Auction history
The 13th round of bidding for oil exploration will take place in the first half of 2015. The areas to be offered are still under analysis by the Ministry of Mines and Energy and the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), and must still be approved by the National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE).
In 2014, the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels) will not hold any bidding rounds, after having held three in 2013, one of which was under the new production sharing model in the pre-salt layer.
The 12th round was held in November 2013, when 240 blocks were offered, raising R$ 165,196 million. Before that, in May, the 11th Bidding Round for oil exploration blocks raised R$ 2,82 billion in Signature Bonuses. At that time, 142 of the 289 blocks offered were awarded.