Petrobras to launch frontier offshore exploration

Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras plans to launch an exploration campaign in a region already being hailed as the "new pre-salt" in the second half of this year.

"We may have some good surprises ahead of us," chief executive Silva e Luna said today during a Credit Suisse event on the region, off the northern coast.

The presented timeline suggests that the company is close to obtaining the required drilling permits from environmental watchdog Ibama, authorization that eluded France's TotalEnergies when it operated exploration blocks in the region.

The Foz do Amazonas, Barreirinhas, Potiguar and Para-Maranhao offshore basins in the north of Brazil are believed to hold around 40pc of the reserves discovered in the pre-salt regions, which are primarily in the southeastern Santos and Campos basins. But the discovery of a reef system near Foz do Amazonas has complicated activity.

Around $2bn of the $5.5bn Petrobras earmarked for exploration between 2022-26 will be directed to the Equatorial margin. The company plans to drill 14 wells in the region, which is believed to share the same geologic characteristics as discoveries in Suriname and Guyana.

Last month, President Jair Bolsonaro's planned visit to Guyana to discuss energy cooperation was unexpectedly cut short, but the Brazilian president did tell his Suriname counterpart Chandrikapersad Santokhi that Petrobras could bring its deepwater expertise to developments in the region.