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» The oil fields in Brazil


The first Brazilian oil accumulation, the Lobato Field, was discovered in the Bahia Recôncavo (BA) in 1939. It was considered non-commercial, though. Brazil’s first commercial oil field was discovered a couple of years later, in Cadeias, also in the Recôncavo. This discovery was followed by other findings in the Recôncavo and, then, in Sergipe and Alagoas. In 1954, in its first year of operations, Petrobras was producing 2,700 barrels per day, less than 3% of the country’s needs.

From the company’s creation to offshore exploration, with the discovery of the Guaricema Field (SE) in 1969, through 1974, when the Garoupa field was discovered, the first one in the Campos Basin (RJ), production surged to 178,000 barrels per day, nearly 29% of the Brazilian consumption. Day after day, the Campos Basin gained prominence only to become the most important Brazilian oil province. Production had topped at 500,000 barrels per day by 1984, i.e., 45% of the country’s demand.

As of 1984, with the discovery of the giant Albacora and Marlim fields, in deep Campos Basin waters, followed by the also giant Marlim Sul, Marlim Leste, Albacora Leste, Barracuda-Caratinga fields, and culminating with the Roncador filed finding, in 1996, the company changed levels, capping production out at 1,000,000 barrels per day in 1998 – nearly 58% of the domestic consumption - and, in 2002, at 1,500,000 barrels per day, i.e., 85% of the Brazilian market’s requirements.

A successful strategy beyond the Campos Basin

No expressive oil and natural gas discovery was made between 1996, the year Roncador was discovered and the year before the new Oil Law (9478/97) was enacted, and 2001.

The track of successful findings was retaken as of 2002. Several changes were implemented in the exploratory strategy which resulted in a large number of important discoveries and in an expressive increase in the exploratory success rate. The rate more than doubled in the following years, growing from 23%, in 2002, to 39%, 50%, and 55% in 2003, 2004, and 2005, respectively. This means the company found oil in more than half of the wells it drilled. In 2006, the rate was 49%, well above the global average of 25%.

The significant exploratory success Petrobras has achieved in the past few years is largely due to decision-making centralization at the company’s main office and to the changes made to its exploratory strategy, moving towards new areas beyond the Campos Basin production center. It also set new, deeper and older exploratory objectives than the usual ones. Furthermore, exploratory investments were increased and Petrobras’ geologist and geophysicist training heightened.

The company initially went North and South of the already-known Campos Basin, and, then, to the Santos, Espírito Santo, and Sergipe-Alagoas Basins, in addition to other exploratory areas. And the strategy worked. Major discoveries soon followed: Jubarte, Cachalote and Parque das Baleias, in northern Campos Basin; Papa-Terra to the south; Mexilhão, Lagosta, Cavalo-Marinho, Uruguá, and Tambaú, in Santos; Golfinho and Canapu, in Espírito Santo; Piranema, in Sergipe-Alagoas; Manati, in Camamu-Almada; over and beyond several other fields. As a result, between 2002 and 2006 Petrobras discovered 59 accumulations which became 51 new fields. Another eight accumulations were annexed to existing fields.

Furthermore, the company opened new exploratory frontiers and discovered important producer basins, such as the Santos and Espírito Santo ones, which will have an important role in maintaining Brazil’s oil production self-sufficiency.

Revitalizing Mature Fields

Petrobras' Exploration & Production area has a corporate program focused on revitalizing mature fields, the Revitalization Program for Fields at High Levels of Explotation (Recage); in other words, it revitalizes fields that have been in production for more than ten years and have exceeded their peaks of production. Today, thanks to the program, fields such as Carmópolis, Canto do Amaro, Camorim, Dourado, Bonito, and Albacora, which had already reached their peaks of production, have gained new vigor and, in a few cases, gone as far as achieving total productions even greater than those they had topped-out at in the past.