Depending on who you ask, Roberto Castello Branco, the new chief executive of Brazil’s Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PETR4.SA), will either save the indebted oil major - or strip it to the bone. Tapped by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who took power on Tuesday, Castello Branco had said in a June newspaper column he thought Petrobras... Continue Reading →
Government wants to improve oil sharing system and stimulate investments
1/3/19 The new Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) team will focus on improving the oil production sharing system in order to make it more competitive and attract greater " investments" in the oil and gas sector, said minister Bento Albuquerque during inaugural speech. "We will have lower transaction costs for the Union, more investments... Continue Reading →
ANP analyzes 230 waiver applications
1/3/19 The ANP's Local Content Superintendence (SCL) is analyzing 230 waiver applications. Of this total, approximately 50% (111) are requests for exemption from local content in the charter of rigs. Among other items / sub-items highlighted are logistical support, with 58 orders, well casing (19), drills (15), stationary production units (6), drilling, well completion and... Continue Reading →
Decree authorizes ANP to include all land blocks on the Permanent Offer
1/2/19 The oil and gas regulator said on Friday (28) that all land areas for exploration, including new blocks, will be offered to the market in Brazil through a permanent offer, with no more conventional concession auction for areas onshore. The decree comes after the federal government delegated the regulatory agency the definition of blocks... Continue Reading →
Brazil E & P: extension of the competences of CNPE and ANP
1/1/2019 According to Bento Albuquerque, the new Minister of Mines and Energy, the biggest change in the oil segment will be the expansion of the competencies of the National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE) to define the exploitation regimes of the pre-salt areas and , together with the National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels... Continue Reading →
Operators to drill more than 180 wells in 2019
01/02/19 The commitments agreed by the block and field operators in Brazil with the ANP foresee 183 wells in 2019, 149 in assets in the production phase and 34 in exploratory projects. The information was shared by the agency with BE Petróleo. Most of the wells programmed will be drilled in the Potiguar (33)... Continue Reading →
Members of Petrobras’ Board of Directors resign
Rio de Janeiro, January 2, 2019 – Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras reports that yesterday, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Luiz Nelson Guedes de Carvalho, and Board member, Mr. Francisco Petros Oliveira Lima Papathanasiadis, presented their resignations from the posts of Chairman and member of the company's Board of Directors, respectively, as... Continue Reading →
S&P Ratings: Offshore rig rates to remain low till-2021
In a recent report, S&P said that after a peak floater utilization of than 80% in 2013, this has dropped to around 50% in 2017, “and we expect levels to remain essentially flat until 2020.” “Although tenders and bidding activity for ultra-deepwater and deepwater floaters have recently picked up, we expect any new fixtures to... Continue Reading →
Bolsonaro takes office in Brazil, says nation ‘liberated from socialism’
Brazil’s newly inaugurated President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday his election had freed the country from “socialism and political correctness,” and he vowed to tackle corruption, crime and economic mismanagement in Latin America’s largest nation. Bolsonaro, a former army captain turned lawmaker who openly admires Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship, promised in his first remarks as... Continue Reading →