July 7. A bill that would allow companies other than state-led Petrobras to run new oil and gas projects in Brazil’s prolific subsalt region advanced on Thursday when a committee of the lower house of Congress voted to recommend it in hopes of reviving stalled petroleum investment.
The bill, already passed by Brazil’s Senate, will now move to the full lower house in Brasilia for a vote expected as early as next week.
The Subsalt Polygon, near Rio de Janeiro, contains about 100 billion barrels of untapped resources according to Rio de Janeiro State University. The oil in the region is trapped far beneath the seabed more than a mile and half (2,414 meters) of ocean by a layer of mineral salts.
The bill would modify a 2010 law requiring all new development in the so-called Subsalt Polygon be led by Petroleo Brasileiro SA take a minimum 30 percent financial stake in all subsalt projects. The bill approved by the committee modifies.
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