The Union's share of oil in production-sharing contracts tripled in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. The sum reached 3.5 million barrels against the 1 million barrels recorded in 2022. The total production of natural gas accumulated in the first quarter of 2023 was 139 million m³, about 56% more than that recorded in the same 2022 period.

The data are part of the Monthly Bulletin of Production Sharing Contracts, prepared and published by PPSA this Wednesday (05/17). The document states that, in March, the total average production of the contracts was 696 thousand barrels per day (bpd), of which 362 thousand bpd in Búzios, 123 thousand bpd in Libra, 101 thousand bpd in Sepia, 77 thousand bpd in Atapu, 7 thousand bpd in the Sapinhoá surroundings, 3 thousand bpd in Sudoeste de Tartaruga Verde and 24 thousand bpd in Itapu. Of this total, 31.72 thousand bpd were Union law.

Optimistic about the results, the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, commented that “Brazil currently produces three million barrels of oil per day, and the expectation is that this number will reach 5.4 million by 2029, with the expectation of becoming the 4th largest oil producer in the world – with 80% of these resources coming from the pre-salt”.

The production attributed to the Union concerns seven contracts, based on the results of Campos de Mero, with approximately 2.5 million barrels, and Búzios, which registered 500 thousand barrels. In the period, these contracts together produced a total of 72 million barrels of oil, against 42 million barrels produced in the first quarter of 2022. The Búzios contract was the main producer.

Natural gas

The total production of natural gas accumulated in this first quarter was also significant, having reached 139 million m³, 56% more than that recorded in the same period of 2022. The production refers to the Búzios, Sapinhoá and Sudoeste de Tartaruga Verde contracts. Of this total, the Union was entitled, in the quarter, to 6.21 million m³, around 48% less than that registered in the same period last year. This fact is explained by the operational stoppage at Campo de Búzios and the increase in cost recovery at Sapinhoá. In March, the three contracts produced 1.12 million m³ per day, with 108,000 m³ per day under Union law.

Since 2017, the beginning of the historical series, the accumulated production of natural gas until March was 1.12 billion m³, with 155.80 million m³ of Union right.

Access the Monthly Bulletin of Production Sharing Contracts

(With information from PPSA)