Keeping quiet: Petrobras
Brazil keeps mum over pre-salt trove
Petrobras may not disclose further recoverable oil and gas volume estimates for pre-salt finds - such as the highly anticipated Jupiter and Guara prospects - until next year, despite revealing the 3 billion to 4 billion barrel reserves tally at BG Group and Galp's Iara discovery, a Petrobras executive said.
“If there is very clear data available you may see new announcements, but my guess is that may not happen until next year,” said Hugo Repsold, a general manager of exploration and production strategy at Petrobras.
Expectation has been growing that Petrobras may soon be ready to give estimates for possible reserves on the Jupiter and Guara discoveries, also in the Santos basin pre-salt "cluster" area.
Both wells were concluded recently and Petrobras has already hinted that Jupiter, which is mainly gas and condensates, is on the same dimensinons as the 5 billion to 8 billion barrel Tupi find.
Petrobras is likely to reveal its broad investment plans for pre-salt developments offshore Brazil as early as October, when it revises its five-year capital expenditures plan, now worth $112 billion through 2012, Repsold said.
Petrobras has already said spending is expected to surge, with billions being allocated to new pre-salt developments like Tupi field, where it hopes to produce 1 million barrels per day by late next decade.
Local reports pegged the new investments at up to $500 billion through 2020, although Petrobras denied that.
In addition, Petrobras said Monday that it will add two offshore pre-salt pilot floating production, storage and offloading projects to its portfolio in 2013 and 2014, to help determine the reservoir characteristics of two more pre-salt reservoirs, although exact locations in the pre-salt cluster have not yet been determined.
Each will produce 100,000 bpd and 5 million cubic metres of gas per day.
“There are lots of reservoirs we still don’t know much about and the pilot projects will help us learn,” Repsold said.
For each 150,000 bpd production unit Petrobras puts in place in Brazil’s pre-salt, it may spend between $6 billion and $8 billion, chief executive Jose Sergio Gabrielli said Monday, adding that it may require 20 to 50 of such production systems to fully tap Brazil’s pre-salt potential.