Total submitted to IBAMA an update on the schedule for the nine-well drilling project in the area of the five exploration blocks that it has acquired in the Basin of Foz do Amazonas in the 11th round of the ANP held in 2013. The company plans to start mobilizing the DS- 9, of Ensco, in the third quarter of this year to begin drilling the first well in the first quarter of 2019.
The oil plan foresees two wells in 2019, three in 2020 and another four in 2021. There is a possibility of using two drill rigs in the campaign, but it is extremely remote, warns the company. “The company informs that the possibility of using a second rig for a simultaneous drilling activity is extremely remote and only if it can be expected to occur at the end of the exploratory campaign. Nevertheless, both the impact assessment and the risk analysis presented already contemplate, where appropriate, the scenario of two rigs operating simultaneously “, says the company in the document sent to Ibama.
The plan was presented by the oil company along with a series of documents after a meeting held at the environmental agency in January to present the Monitoring Program for Foz do Amazonas. The project was one of the items disapproved by Ibama in August last year when the environmental license for the campaign was not issued.
If Ibama does not release the drilling of the wells in the region the only choice for Total is to return the concession of the blocks to the ANP. Total operates five blocks in Foz do Amazonas Basin and provides for the drilling of nine wells. In all, the oil companies that have blocks in Foz do Amazonas Basin from the 11th round of the ANP, held in 2013, foresee the drilling of 12 wells in the region. In addition to Total, BP and QGEP are licensing projects in the area.
In early December, Ibama denied issuing the license and ordered BP to complete environmental studies for the well drilling campaign in the area of the FZA-M-59 exploratory well. In practice, the request for supplementation is a refusal to issue, but does not prevent the license from being issued after the resubmission of studies. Nor does it prevent the environmental body from requesting further requests for completeness of information.
Among the two denials for drilling, Ibama released the environmental license for CGG to acquire 3D seismic data in the area of the exploratory block FZA-M-320, in shallow waters of the Foz do Amazonas Basin. The area is operated by Ecopetrol, with 100% participation, and the license is valid until March 1, 2018, conditioning the activities to the use of the Oceanic Champion.
At the end of the year, PetroRio began licensing a project to acquire proprietary 3D seismic data in the exploration block FZA-M-539. The area, bought in the 11th round of the ANP by Brasoil, entered the company’s portfolio after PetroRio bought 100% of the capital of Brasoil, an operation completed in March this year.
Brazil Energy Insight 
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