Petrobras credits Santos Basin fields for uptick in oil & gas reserves

Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras has recorded an increase in its proven reserves of oil, condensate, and natural gas in 2024 compared to the previous year.

The oil and gas giant disclosed two values as of December 31, 2024. The first one, which is in line with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting rules, places Petrobras’ proven reserves at 11.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Oil and condensate account for 85% of this amount and natural gas for 15%.

In 2024, the firm saw a 1.3 billion boe increase, with a reserve replacement rate (IRR) of 154%. The Brazilian major believes the increase occurred mainly due to the progress in the development of the Atapu and Sépia fields, and to the good performance of the assets, with emphasis on the Búzios, Itapu, Tupi (which was known as Lula for a while), and Sépia fields in the pre-salt Santos Basin. 

In mid-December, Petrobras handed out 1,095-day contracts to two ultra-deepwater drillships that are set to work on Atapu and Sépia. The first is Seadrill’s West Tellus and the second Ventura Offshore Midco’s DS Carolina.

The oil and gas giant says there were no relevant changes related to the variation in the oil price. Additionally, the ratio between proved reserves and production (R/P) is said to be 13.2 years.

Taking into account the expected production for the coming years, Petrobras considers it crucial to continue investing in maximizing the recovery factor, exploring new frontiers, and diversifying its exploration portfolio to replace oil and gas reserves.

The energy firm also reports on reserves in line with the requirements of the ANP and the country’s Society of Petroleum Engineers (ANP/SPE). The proven reserves according to these parameters reached 11.7 boe. 

As explained by Petrobras, the differences between the reserves estimated by ANP/SPE definitions and those based on SEC’s reporting rules are mainly due to different economic assumptions and the possibility of considering as reserves the volumes expected to be produced beyond the concession contract expiration date in fields in Brazil according to ANP reserves regulation.

Earlier this month, the Brazilian player announced that it received ANP’s approval for the unitization of the Berbigão and Sururu fields, also in the Santos Basin. This came seven years after it submitted the revised development plans for the reservoirs.

Petrobras recently prolonged the assignment of the floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) called Cidade de Angra dos Reis at the Tupi field.

According to the Brazilian National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP), the Tupi field was the country’s largest producer in August 2024, with 832,600  thousand bbl/d of oil and 43.19 million m³/d of natural gas produced.