Pre-salt production in August recorded records for the second consecutive month, both in oil and natural gas production. In total, 2,776 MMboe / d (million barrels of oil equivalent per day) were produced, with 2,201 MMbbl / d (million barrels per day) of oil and 91.398 MMm3 / d (million m3 per day) of natural gas. The previous record was in July, when 2,179 MMbbl / d of oil and 88.88 MMm3 of natural gas were produced.

In total, there was an increase of 1.4% in relation to the previous month and 14.4% in relation to August 2019. The production in the Pre-salt originated in 117 wells and corresponded to 70.7% of the national production.

The information is from the ANP's Monthly Bulletin on Oil and Natural Gas Production with detailed data on national production for August 2020.

National production 

This month, national production was 3.927 MMboe / d, with 3.087 MMbbl / d of oil and 134 MMm3 / d of natural gas. Oil production increased 0.3% compared to the previous month and 3.3% compared to August 2019. In natural gas, there was an increase of 2.4% in relation to July and 0.1% in comparison with the same month of the previous year.

During the month of August, 33 fields had their respective production temporarily interrupted due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, of which 16 seafarers and 17 onshore, and a total of 60 marine production facilities remained with interrupted production. There was no change compared to July.

New graphics 

As of this edition, the bulletin brings new graphics (31 to 34) containing data on the fractions recovered from fields and basins, that is, the percentage of oil that has already been recovered in relation to the volume of oil in place (Voip).

The volume in place corresponds to the total amount of oil in the reservoirs, however, not all of this volume will be produced, since the amount of oil that is recoverable is determined by a number of factors, including, for example, the permeability and porosity of rocks , in addition to the oil viscosity. Technological solutions are implemented to increase the oil recovery factor in the fields, but a considerable part of the volume in place will always remain trapped in the reservoir.

The measures taken by the ANP have been important vectors for increasing the field recovery factor, that is, improving the relationship between existing reserves and what is actually extracted. In this context, the Agency has been demanding new investments in exchange for the extension of concession contracts in order to maximize the extraction of petroleum resources. Additionally, the ANP published Resolution No. 749/2018, which allowed the reduction of royalty rates on the incremental production of mature fields. These Agency actions are in line with the guidelines contained in CNPE Resolutions 02/2016 and 17/2017.

Use of natural gas 

In August, the use of natural gas was 97%. 55.7 MMm³ / day were made available to the market. Gas flaring in the month was 3.9 MMm³ / d, a reduction of 0.2% compared to the previous month and an increase of 20.2% compared to the same month in 2019.

Origin of production 

In this month of August, offshore fields produced 96.9% of oil and 85.5% of natural gas. The fields operated by Petrobras were responsible for 94.7% of the oil and natural gas produced in Brazil. However, fields with exclusive participation by Petrobras produced 42.9% of the total.

Highlights 

In August, the Tupi field, in the Santos Basin pre-salt, was the largest producer of oil and natural gas, registering 1.004 MMbbl / d of oil and 44.5 MMm3 / d of natural gas.

The Petrobras 77 platform, producing in the Búzios field through four interconnected wells, produced 165.598 Mbbl / d of oil and was the facility with the highest oil production.

The FPSO Cidade de Itaguaí facility, producing in the Tupi field, through seven interconnected wells, produced 7.337 MMm³ / d and was the facility with the highest production of natural gas.

Estreito, in the Potiguar Basin, had the largest number of onshore producing wells: 1,097. Marlim Sul, in the Campos Basin, was the maritime field with the largest number of producing wells: 67.

Marginal accumulation fields 

These fields produced 436.3 boe / d, 83 bbl / d of oil and 56.2 Mm³ / d of natural gas. The Iraí field, operated by Petroborn, was the largest producer, with 349 boe / d.

Other information 

In August 2020, 269 areas granted, three areas for consideration and five sharing, operated by 35 companies, were responsible for national production. Of these, 63 are maritime and 206 are onshore, 10 relating to contracts for areas containing marginal accumulations. Production took place in 6,775 wells, 517 offshore and 6,258 onshore.

The average API grade of oil extracted in Brazil was 28, with 2.7% of the production considered light oil (> = 31 ° API), 86.1% average oil (> = 22 API and <31 API) and 11, 1% heavy oil (<22 API).

The mature onshore basins (fields / long-term tests in the Espírito Santo, Potiguar, Recôncavo, Sergipe and Alagoas basins) produced 99.4 Mboe / d, of which 79.2 thousand bbl / d of oil and 3.2 MMm³ / d of natural gas. Of this total, 82,400 boe / d were produced by Petrobras and 17,000 boe / d were produced by concessions not operated by Petrobras, of which: 11,126 boe / d in Rio Grande do Norte, 5,337 boe / d in Bahia, 290 boe / d in Alagoas, 134 boe / d in Espírito Santo and 130 boe / d in Sergipe.