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Pictured: Francisco Torres, Claudio Kuyven, Indira Ribeiro da Silva and Sinesio Nicoleti

Integrated collaboration among operators, PPSA, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) and other consortium participants, supported by technological solutions, qualified teams and sound governance practices, is essential to advancing complex pre-salt projects. This is one of the main conclusions of a study prepared by PPSA specialists, which will be presented at ROG.e 2026, taking place from September 21 to 24 at Riocentro.

Entitled “From Block Acquisition to Final Investment Decisions: Real Cases in the Pre-Salt Polygon,” the study analyzes the development of projects carried out under Brazil’s production-sharing regime. It follows the path from the acquisition of an exploration block to the Final Investment Decision, the stage at which companies decide to implement the project and commit the resources required for its development.

The analysis examines the experiences of the Mero, Sapinhoá, Tartaruga Mestiça, Bacalhau and Orca/Gato do Mato projects. Although each faced technical, regulatory, managerial and economic challenges before reaching the Final Investment Decision, and each applied a specific set of solutions, the study emphasizes that all of the projects shared a common characteristic: highly qualified teams working within efficient management structures and active governance frameworks.

The study shows that a lack of understanding of the rules and procedures governing the production-sharing regime can not only undermine the smooth management of projects, generating inefficiencies and unnecessary rework, but also delay critical decisions and create difficulties in having expenditures recognized as cost oil.

“There is no single solution that can be applied to every project. Each project requires a specific set of responses. What we found is that efficient management, dialogue, planning, qualified teams and structured decision-making processes help companies find the best paths for each situation,” explains Claudio Martins Kuyven, PPSA’s Executive Manager of Contracts and presenter of the study at ROG.e.

As manager of production-sharing contracts and representative of the Federal Government in unitization agreements involving uncontracted areas, PPSA monitors projects at different stages of maturity. According to the authors, this position enables the company to gather experience, identify practices that have worked in previous situations and share this knowledge with consortium partners.

“PPSA plays a unique role in consolidating and disseminating best practices and lessons learned from pre-salt projects. This work contributes both to protecting companies’ business plans — particularly with regard to the recognition of cost oil — and to generating sustainable benefits for the Federal Government by strengthening governance and the quality of investment decisions in these projects,” Kuyven added.

The study was prepared by Claudio Martins Kuyven, Ricardo de Oliveira Loureiro, Sinesio Nicoleti, Francisco Eugenio Magarinos Torres and Indira Ribeiro da Silva.