May 17 Brazilian petroleum regulator ANP said on Tuesday that it extended state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA’s concessions to explore and produce oil from the Marlim and Voador offshore fields for 27 years, to 2052.
The extensions were made to help facilitate new investment in the fields, which require new wells, production equipment and other capital spending to help maintain their declining output, the ANP said in a statement.
Petrobras is struggling with low oil prices, nearly $130 billion of debt and stagnant output.
The ANP, though, has pressured the company to use more of its shrinking investment budget to improve output in Marlim and other Campos Basin offshore fields near Rio de Janeiro.
These fields have been declining nearly as fast as Petrobras can add new output. Their decline has also deprived the state of royalties and other taxes in the midst of a recession.
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