The ANP Board of Directors approved today (12/15) a normative instruction (IN) that defines guidelines for evaluating the new ones delivered to the Agency with a view to extending the production phase of contracts for oil and natural gas producing fields. The IN also provides guidelines for analyzing requests to reduce the royalty rate on incremental production that may occur in these fields.

The measure complies with the provisions of the concession contracts and the main guidelines of the CNPE Resolutions (2/2016, 17/2017, 4/2020, 6/2020 and 5/2022) related to increasing the attractiveness of the oil and gas sector in the Brazil, through actions such as extending contracts and the useful life of fields, reducing royalty rates and maximizing production recovery factors.

The analysis of development plans with requests for extension of contract validity, according to the IN, should observe aspects such as prioritizing the continuity of production in the fields, exploration and production of oil in a sustainable manner and compatible with the best practices in the industry; and making firm investments in the short term, compatible with maximizing the recovery of reservoirs, in order to guarantee the highest return for Brazilian society.

Development plan is the document prepared by the concessionaire containing the work program and the investment necessary for the development of an oil or natural gas discovery, under the terms of the concession contract. It is an instrument used throughout the oil industry, essential for the ANP to know and monitor the development of the field, as it gathers technical, operational, economic and environmental information related to the exploration of an oil field, including its abandonment.

Requests to reduce the royalty rate must be analyzed based on ANP Resolution No. 749/2018. The norm, applicable to all concession contracts, regulates the concession, at the request of the operating company, of reducing royalties to up to five percent on the incremental production of mature fields, provided that the economic benefit for the federal entities is proven. It establishes that, on the production that is within the field's reference curve, the current rate of each contract will incur. In incremental production (exceeding the forecast in this curve), the rate may be reduced to up to 5%, depending on the additional volume actually produced.

Mature fields are those in production for at least 25 years, or whose accumulated production corresponds to at least 70% of the expected volume to be produced from proved reserves (1P), which have increased their production through new investments.

The approval of the normative instruction adds to other ANP actions aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the oil and gas sector, such as ANP Resolution No. 854/2021 (on guarantees and instruments that ensure the decommissioning of facilities, as a premise for the revitalization of mature fields), ANP Resolution nº 877/2022 (criteria for classifying fields/areas as marginal or of marginal production), approval of the extension of more than 60 contracts arising from the zero rounds, second round of concession areas and the marginal fields, in addition to the approval of more than 30 projects in mature fields with forecast of incremental production and, as a consequence, reduction of royalties under the terms of ANP Resolution No. 749/2018.