Spotlight: Brazil’s Solimões oil and gas basin

Petrobras has invited Eneva to negotiate the acquisition of the Urucu onshore area, in Brazil’s Solimões basin. 

“The signing of the sale and purchase agreement is subject to successful negotiations, which encompass commercial and contractual aspects of the transaction, to be approved [by] the governance bodies of both parties,” Eneva said in a press release.

Petrobras said in a statement in December that Eneva and 3R Petroleum offered between US$600mn and US$1bn for the Amazonas state asset. 

Eneva is also developing the Azulão-Jaguatirica II thermoelectric project in Amazonas, which is based on gas produced in the Azulão field. And it has paid a 25.8mn-real bonus for the Juruá Solimões basin area during regulator ANP’s second open acreage round in December, planning to invest 3.6mn reais. 

Petrobras’ Solimões divestment is part of the state-owned oil giant’s strategy to focus on offshore assets, mainly in deep and ultra-deep waters. 

Ucuru comprises the Araracanga, Arara Azul, Carapanaúba, Cupiúba, Leste do Urucu, Rio Urucu and Sudoeste Urucu concessions in the municipalities of Tefé and Coari, covering around 350km2. They are 100% operated by Petrobras. 

According to the latest ANP data, December output from these fields was: 

– Araracanga: 0;

– Arara Azul: 1,353b/d of oil and 307,970m3/d of gas;

– Carapanaúba: 15.2b/d of oil and 16,190m3/d of gas;

– Cupiúba: 49.5b/d of oil and 52,840m3/d of gas;

– Leste do Urucu: 8,300b/d of oil and 6.3Mm3/d of gas;

– Rio Urucu: 5,500b/d of oil and 6.4Mm3/d of gas;

– Sudoeste Urucu: 314b/d of oil and 53,700m3/d of gas.

The Urucu pole has 20 of Brazil’s 30 largest oil producing onshore wells and 19 of the 30 largest natural gas producing wells. The biggest oil well was Arara Azul’s 1-BRSA-769-AM, with December output of 1,353b/d. The biggest gas producing well was Rio Urucu’s 9-RUC-75D-AM, with 545,000m3/d. 

The Solimões basin produced an average of 15,000b/d of oil and 13Mm3/d of natural gas in December, all of it in the Urucu pole. Juruá is the basin’s only field in the development phase. 

All the 13 exploration blocks that are concessioned are operated by Russia’s Rosneft. They include SOL-T-174, SOL-T-197, SOL-T-151, SOL-T-194, SOL-T-214, SOL-T-215, SOL-T-216, SOL-T-217, SOL-T-168, SOL-T-169, SOL-T-170, SOL-T-191 and SOL-T-192.