Page 9 - LatAmOil Week 49 2019

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 But the results of the campaign were disappoint- ing, as none of the wells drilled actually con- tained economic quantities of oil or gas.
Nevertheless, exploration drilling helped the NOC achieve one of its secondary goals, as it had yielded “very valuable data,” the statement reported. “With this data, geological insights are sharpened and the chances of success in the search for oil are increased,” Staatsolie commented.
The company further stated that it had encountered oil shows in four of its six explora- tion wells. It did not elaborate, but it did say that the shows could be a sign of the shallow-water zone’s hydrocarbon potential.
Meanwhile, Staatsolie has also pledged to push forward with exploration work. Since the shallow-water offshore zone has not yet been adequately explored, it should be surveyed fur- ther, it said.
“Now that well data has been collected, the
BRAZIL
Petrobras may divest additional assets
seismic data can be associated with this specific information,” it said. ™
Suriname used the West Castor rig to drill at Tukunari (Image: Staatsolie)
BRAZIL’S national oil company (NOC) Petro- bras has said it could add several billion dollars’ worth of assets to its five-year divestment plan, as it tries to ease its debt load.
Earlier this month, Petrobras said it was planning to sell between $20-30bn worth of assets, including eight Brazilian refineries, in the 2020-2024 period. But in a separate presentation last week, the financially strapped company said it could add its Bolivian assets, its stake in petrochemical firm Braskem, various legacy deep-water oilfields and its remaining stake in fuel distribution firm BR Distribuidora to the divestment programme, Reuters reported.
The firm said it might sell sections of the Marlim oilfield, one of Brazil’s largest, as well as its majority stake in the smaller Papa-Terra Field, the news agency added.
The company’s CEO Roberto Castello Branco said last week that a piece of Marlim could bring in around $2-4bn, and Petrobras’ CFO Andrea Almeida said the sale of its Bras- kem stake could fetch $2-3bn, it added. “The extra assets that are not included in the plan are BR Distribuidora, Braskem and other E&P assets,” Almeida was cited as saying. “It adds to the $20-30bn plan.”
The Brazilian NOC, which is one of the larg- est oil companies in the world, estimated that the additional sell-offs and other cost-cutting meas- ures would boost its equity value by roughly 45% by 2021. The struggling firm is trying to pay down debt and recover from the Lava Jato corruption scandal, through a strategy based on divesting non-core assets to focus on Brazil’s deepwater presalt area.
Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras said earlier this month that spending in the 2020-2024
period would be concentrated on Brazil’s off- shore pre-salt formation, with a special empha- sis on its Buzios field.
This offshore site, formerly known as the Franco field, is located within the Cessão Oner- osa (Transfer of Rights) region of the Santos Basin. It covers an area of 416 square km and is situated approximately 200km off the coast of Rio de Janeiro, in water depths ranging from 1,600 metres to 2,100 metres.
The Buzios field, which produced first oil in April 2018, became Brazil’s second-biggest indi- vidual source of oil and gas in September, with output reaching 327,828 barrels per day (bpd), according to data from the national petroleum agency, known as ANP. ™
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Petrobras CEO Roberto Castello Branco (Photo: Mercopress)
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