Published in 27/12/2018

The company Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA), linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, collected more than R$1.133 billion for the Federal Government this year. The information was released today (27), in Rio de Janeiro, by the president of the company, Ibsen Flores Lima.

As Lima informed Agência Brasil, the funds have already been deposited in the Brazilian Exchequer. They involve the operating results of the sales of the portion of the Federal Government’s oil, which is equivalent to R$286 million, in the development area of Mero, in the Santos Basin, and of the Equalization of Expenses and Volumes (EGV) of the Sapinhoá Field, also located in the Santos Basin, in the amount of R$847 million.

The EGV results from the Production Individualization Agreement (AIP) held in the Sapinhoá Shared Reservoir, operated by the consortium formed by Petrobras, which holds a 45% share and non-operator partner Shell (30%) and Repsol Sinopec (25%). The Sapinhoá field started its production in 2010, shortly after identifying that the oil reservoir exceeded the geographical limits of the contract. In such cases, by means of an AIP, the Federal Government, represented by Pré-Sal Petróleo, will be entitled to a portion of production and equivalent responsibility over the expenses, agreed upon between the parties at 3.7%.

Pré-Sal Petróleo has already executed six AIPs: Sapinhoá, Tartaruga Verde, Lula/Sul de Lula, Nautilus, Atapu and Brava. The company expects to soon sign the AIP of the Mero Shared Reservoir. There are also 17 other potential cases of individualization of production under analysis by the company.

Expectation

Ibsen Flores Lima recalled that, earlier this year, the expectation was to raise R$1 billion for the Federal Government. Overcoming this value was a positive surprise for PPSA. The company represents the Federal Government in the Individualization of Production Agreements (AIP), manages the pre-salt production-sharing contracts and is responsible for the sales of the Federal Government’s oil and gas.

PPSA studies indicate that the Federal Government will have the right, in 2028, to 250 thousand barrels of oil per day related only to the production of the 14 production-sharing contracts currently in force in the country, generating an annual contribution to the estimated federal revenue of R$20 billion, the company’s president said.

For 2019, Ibsen Flores Lima hopes to close the accounts of the AIPs of the Lula/Sul de Lula and Tartaruga Verde fields. "We are closing the accounts and must have the values during the first half of the year”. The Federal Government’s share in the Lula Field is small, reaching 0.5%. The president of PPSA clarified that the project still has large investments being made. "So it is possible that the values (for the Federal Government) are small”, he said.

The case of Tartaruga Verde is similar. The production started this year, investments are being made and the accumulated production values are reduced. Flores Lima said that the positive balance in 2019 should be given by the oil sales initials. In the pre-salt auction held last August, PPSA sold the production of the next three years, related to the portion of the Federal Government in these sharing fields, and the forecast is to raise around R$1.2 billion.

Summing up the sales to the Lula and Tartaruga Verde AIPs, Flores Lima believes that the amount that will be deposited to the National Treasury next year will be higher than the R$1.133 billion collected in 2018. "The idea is to overcome, for sure. Just the sales value already exceeds this number”, admitted Flores Lima.

New exploratory area agreements must be signed by PPSA in 2019, but will not have commercial production balances to be reverted to the benefit of the Federal Government. "We are optimistic here with the year of 2019, and the consolidation of Pré-Sal Petróleo works”, concluded Flores Lima.