Spotlight: Brazil’s 2025 oil and gas highlights

New wells, bidding rounds, FPSOs, refineries, fertilizer plants and gas pipelines are among the highlights of Brazil’s oil and gas sector in 2025. 

Meanwhile, a controversial decision is expected to be made regarding the exploration of a new oil and gas frontier. 

BNamericas provides a list of events and projects expected to take place or move forward this year, including the ones highlighted in our recent Oil & Gas Outlook 2025: Unlocking Potential Amid Uncertainty. 

New wells  

Work plans of oil and gas operators involve the drilling of 26 exploration wells, of which nine are offshore and 17 onshore. 

Bidding rounds

After a one-year gap, Brazil’s oil and gas watchdog ANP is expected to hold concession and production sharing tenders as part of its open acreage program.

FPSOs

This year began with Brava Energia’s Atlanta FPSO ramping up after the unit’s startup on December 31. 

The other FPSOs scheduled to come online in 2025 are Petrobras’ Almirante Tamandaré, Alexandre de Gusmão and P-78, and Equinor’s Bacalhau. 

The federal oil company is also carrying out tenders to contract the SEAP and the Marlim Sul (P-86) FPSOs and is expected to launch the processes for the Albacora and Barracuda/ Caratinga production units soon. 

The state oil giant could also publish the tender for a 12th FPSO for the Búzios field. 

Meanwhile, Shell plans to make the final investment decision on the Gato do Mato project in the Santos basin pre-salt, with the installation of a 120,000b/d FPSO. 

Tankers 

Petrobras’ logistics subsidiary Transpetro expects to sign the contracts for the acquisition of four handy-class vessels. 

The vessels will be the first contracted in Petrobras' fleet renewal and expansion program TP 25, which foresees the acquisition of 25 cabotage ships. 

Transpetro expects to launch the program's second tender, which will be public and international, in January. This time, eight gas carriers of the pressurized and semi-refrigerated types will be acquired. 

Refineries 

Petrobras is likely to move forward with a contracting process to build the second refining train of the RNEST (Abreu e Lima) refinery in Pernambuco – an estimated investment of 6-8bn reais (up to US$1.3bn). 

At the Boaventura energy complex, the state-run firm is carrying out tenders to build plants to produce lubricants, diesel and aviation kerosene. 

Also on the suppliers’ radar is construction of a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) plant at Petrobras’ RPBC refinery, in São Paulo, and a PV solar power plant at RNEST. 

Fertilizer plants

Petrobras should advance the completion of fertilizer unit UFN III and the refurbishment of the Araucária fertilizer plant (Ansa). 

The company is also likely to define a solution to resume the operations of its Bahia and Sergipe fertilizer plants, which are under a lease contract with the financially stressed Unigel. 

Pipelines

A joint venture between Origem Energia and Transportadora Associada de Gás (TAG) may move forward with a natural gas storage project this year, even more so if the undertaking wins a contract in the upcoming backup capacity tender. 

TAG also plans to invest 900mn reais in the construction of the Itajuípe compression station in Bahia, which will increase the capacity of the Gascac pipeline by 3 million cubic meters per day.

Controversial decision 

The Brazilian government expects that environmental regulator Ibama will soon issue the long-awaited license for Petrobras to drill in the environmentally fragile Foz do Amazonas basin, which is seen as Brazil’s main hope to avoid oil supply risk in the next decade.