• 3 minutes e-car sales collapse
  • 6 minutes America Is Exceptional in Its Political Divide
  • 11 minutes Perovskites, a ‘dirt cheap’ alternative to silicon, just got a lot more efficient
  • 4 hours GREEN NEW DEAL = BLIZZARD OF LIES
  • 7 hours How Far Have We Really Gotten With Alternative Energy
  • 9 hours If hydrogen is the answer, you're asking the wrong question
  • 4 days Oil Stocks, Market Direction, Bitcoin, Minerals, Gold, Silver - Technical Trading <--- Chris Vermeulen & Gareth Soloway weigh in
  • 6 days The European Union is exceptional in its political divide. Examples are apparent in Hungary, Slovakia, Sweden, Netherlands, Belarus, Ireland, etc.
  • 22 hours Biden's $2 trillion Plan for Insfrastructure and Jobs
  • 4 days "What’s In Store For Europe In 2023?" By the CIA (aka RFE/RL as a ruse to deceive readers)

Petrobras Looks To Grow Oil Production Outside Brazil

Brazilian state-held oil firm Petrobras is considering growing its oil reserves and production with projects abroad after a major drilling project at home was denied due to environmental concerns, Reuters reported on Thursday, quoting sources familiar with the company’s plans.

Petrobras, which hasn’t made a large domestic discovery in more than a decade, could decide on a U-turn in its exploration policy and look to grow outside Brazil instead of focusing domestically and shrinking its foreign presence as it has done over the past decade.  

The reason for the possible U-turn in exploration and production strategy is the recent rejection of a drilling project in the Foz do Amazonas area in the so-called Equatorial Margin where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic.

Petrobras has bet big on the Equatorial Margin to replenish its reserves.

But last month, Brazil’s environmental protection agency refused to grant approval for the controversial offshore oil project led by Petrobras.

The agency based its decision, which was celebrated by environmentalists, on “a function of a group of technical inconsistencies.”

The block in the Foz do Amazonas basin, off Brazil’s northern coast, is close to the mouth of the Amazon River, which prompted the environmentalist protest that eventually led to the regulator’s decision.

Petrobras already operates several blocks in the area, which, according to Brazil’s oil and gas regulator, has a similar geology to the Guyana-Suriname Basin, where several massive discoveries have been made.

Petrobras is appealing the decision of the environmental protection agency Ibama. But the state oil giant wasn’t prepared for such a rejection, according to Reuters’ sources.

Drilling in the Equatorial Margin has been Petrobras’ “Plan A, B, and C” for replenishing its oil reserves, one of the sources noted. Without the Equatorial Margin, Petrobras may have to seek growth opportunities outside Brazil, according to the sources.

ADVERTISEMENT

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:



Join the discussion | Back to homepage



Leave a comment

Leave a comment

EXXON Mobil -0.35
Open57.81 Trading Vol.6.96M Previous Vol.241.7B
BUY 57.15
Sell 57.00
Oilprice - The No. 1 Source for Oil & Energy News