The oil and gas exploration and production sector in Brazil is expected to attract around BRL 102 billion in investments annually by 2025, shows a study published this Tuesday by the Brazilian Association of Petroleum Service Companies, considering only the phases of Exploration and production.
The volume, according to the entity, represents a “slightly more accentuated” curve of recovery of the sector in relation to the average fall verified between 2018 and 2021, due to the coronavirus pandemic, which drastically reduced the demand for oil and derivatives on a global scale and , consequently, investments.
“We were in a valley, because of the pandemic. We are only leaving now”, said Telmo Ghiorzi, executive secretary of Abespetro.
Investment data from Petrobras, the largest oil company in the country, accompany this recovery projection.
According to the company, the average annual investment between 2017 and 2021 was US$ 9.05 billion dollars, considering nominal values.
From this year to 2026, the Petrobras plans to invest, according to its strategic plan, a total of US$ 57.3 billion dollars, already considering the divestments, an average of US$ 11.5 billion dollars per year, in the area of exploration and production of oil and gas.
“Petrobras has 93% of the Brazilian operation. But its share of total investments in the country is around 75%,” explained Ghiorzi.
According to Ghiorzi, although it still has great weight in the sector, the fact that Petrobras divests some fields generates investments in the sector by other oil companies that take over the business.
Considering all these investment projections, the association projects an average annual generation of 525 thousand jobs, with 340 thousand and 315 thousand jobs being projected for this year and 315 thousand, respectively, still under the effect of the pandemic, jumping to 609 thousand in 2024. and 837 thousand in 2025.
In the report, Abespetro defends that there is an immediate acceleration of the auction calendar of the ANP regulatory agency, with the offer of attractive blocks and more competitive contracts, with a reduction, for example, in bonus payments by the winners.
“What generates more jobs and revenue is oil exploration. It's not the signing bonus," Ghiorzi said.
This, says the entity, would provide a more effective use of the pre-salt riches and new frontiers, such as the Equatorial Margin.
The new exploratory region, which rises from the coast of Rio Grande do Norte to Amapá, is expected to receive 38% of the total of 5.5 billion capex projected by Petrobras for oil exploration between 2022 and 2026, according to the company's strategic plan for the period.
Sources: investing.com
