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While ExxonMobil’s discoveries at Stabroek company serving as operator of the project. The
have thus far contained more oil than gas, the shareholders are carrying out the project under
Guyanese block appears to contain notably a production-sharing contract (PSC) with Suri-
higher concentrations of gas near the maritime name’s national oil company (NOC) Staatsolie.
border with Suriname, Hess said. The last well drilled at Block 42 was Zan-
He went on to assert that he believed Block derij-1, which resulted in a non-commercial
42 was within the oil window of the basin and discovery. However, the results from Zanderij-1
stated that Hess and its partners were working did demonstrate the presence of a working
to define this window. petroleum system, and the partners are there-
Equity in Block 42 is divided equally between fore working to optimise the next drilling site in
Hess, Chevron (US) and Shell, with the latter the hope of making a commercial find. ™

BRAZIL
Brazil’s National Council for Energy Policy

will draft bill to stimulate gas sector

THE Brazilian government’s National Council
for Energy Policy (CNPE) has said it intends to
draw up a bill for the purpose of raising domestic
natural and associated gas production, improv-
ing gas supplies and attracting more investment
to gas infrastructure projects.
The council, headed by President Luiz Inacio
Lula da Silva, unveiled its plan at a meeting on
March 17. Its members explained that CNPE
had set up a new working group called “Gas for
Jobs” to develop proposals for submission to the
National Congress.
According to a report from Argus Media,
CNPE stated that the working group would look
into various methods for boosting domestic gas
supplies. These may include swaps with crude
oil or other fuels, reductions in the volume of
gas re-injected into oilfields to maintain reser-
voir pressure and increases in the amount of gas
supplies to the fertiliser and chemical industries,
the council said.
Additionally, CNPE said, the working group
will consider increasing investments in decar-
bonisation programmes. These include initia-
tives that allow gas to be used as a transition fuel,
as well as projects that integrate gas with other
low-carbon fuel options, such as biomethane
and hydrogen, it explained.
According to the preliminary documen-
tation drawn up for the working group, the
state-owned oil and gas marketing firm Pré-Sal
Petróleo SA (PPSA) may help finance invest-
ment in all links of the gas value chain. CNPE The bill will also seek to encourage investment in infrastructure (Photo: TAG)
has not commented public on the form that this
assistance might take. For his part, Minister of Mines and Energy
Brazil’s Ministry of Mines and Energy Alexandre Silveira noted that the “Gas for Jobs”
(MME) expressed its support for the “Gas for working group was seeking to strengthen Bra-
Jobs” agenda at the CNPE meeting. Ministry zil’s industrial sector by ensuring adequate gas
officials said they saw stimulating development supplies in the long term. Keeping the industrial
as a necessary activity, since natural gas would and manufacturing sector supplied with fuel is
serve as a transition fuel for Brazil. expected to create new jobs, he said. ™

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