Pre-Salt Oil Drives Crude to Become Brazil’s Top Export in 2024

Crude oil ended 2024 as Brazil’s leading export, overtaking soybeans. Exports of crude oil and mineral oils totaled $44.8 billion, according to data released last week by the Foreign Trade Secretariat of the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade, and Services.

By the end of 2024, crude oil accounted for 13.3% of Brazil’s total exports, surpassing soybeans, which saw their share drop from 15.7% in 2023 to 12.7% in 2024. Soybean exports generated $42.9 billion in 2024, down from $53.2 billion the previous year.

Brazil’s pre-salt oil reservoirs played a crucial role in elevating crude oil to the top of the export rankings. According to the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP), Brazil produced 36.9 million barrels of oil per day (Mbbl/d) between January and November 2024, with 71.5% originating from pre-salt fields. In the second half of the year, this figure rose to 80.3%.

A Historical Milestone

Discovered in 2006, Brazil’s pre-salt reserves have significantly bolstered the country’s energy independence, reducing the need for oil imports. These reservoirs yield high-quality, light crude oil with strong commercial value.

Production began in 2008 at the Jubarte field in the Campos Basin, located off Brazil’s southeastern coast. Together with the Santos Basin, these regions house reservoirs buried at depths of 5,000 to 7,000 meters—comparable to the peak of the Andes Mountain Range.

The Tupi, Búzios, and Mero fields, all located in the Santos Basin, now account for 69% of pre-salt production, according to ANP data. Tupi, Brazil’s largest oil asset, produced 1.1 million barrels per day in Q3 2024.

Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled oil company, remains the dominant player in pre-salt operations, accounting for 98% of production in November 2024, including consortium-operated wells. Approximately 80% of Petrobras’ total output originates from pre-salt reservoirs.

Key consortium partners include multinational oil giants such as Shell, TotalEnergies, and China’s CNOOC.

According to Petrobras, pre-salt production is expected to peak in the 2030s and will play a strategic role in the global energy transition. Technologies developed by Petrobras ensure that pre-salt oil has a carbon intensity 70% lower than the global average.

Geological Origins

Petrobras explains that pre-salt oil originates from sedimentary rocks formed over 100 million years ago during the separation of the South American and African continents. Large depressions created lakes, later connected to the ocean. Organic material from microscopic algae, mixed with sediments, formed the hydrocarbon-rich rocks now exploited.

An arid climate at the time caused intense evaporation of seawater, leading to salt deposits that created a barrier preventing oil from escaping to the surface.

Overcoming Technological Challenges

The distance between the pre-salt reservoirs and the coast, coupled with their depth, posed significant challenges for Petrobras in locating, extracting, and transporting the oil to the mainland. These obstacles drove the company to develop technologies to overcome logistical and exploratory difficulties. One example is a processing technique that clarifies the exact location of pre-salt rock formations.

Throughout its journey in exploring and producing oil from the pre-salt fields, Petrobras has received recognition for its technological advancements, earning awards from the Offshore Technology Conference (OTC)—a prestigious global forum for offshore exploration research—in 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023.

One technology employed in the Búzios field is systematic 4D seismic acquisition. “By emitting ultrasonic waves that reflect off the reservoir and return with data, we can determine the height, length, and depth, constructing a detailed image of the reservoir,” the company explains.

“Through systematic seismic surveys and studies to map out the reservoir’s structure, we can plan the next steps, such as where to drill specific wells, boosting production and reducing costs,” Petrobras adds.

Among the standout technologies currently in use are those that reinject CO₂ generated during production back into the reservoir. This approach prevents the release of pollutants into the atmosphere and reduces the company’s carbon footprint.

Revenues

The discovery of the pre-salt was so transformative for Brazil’s oil production potential that the government overhauled the regulatory framework governing the exploration of these underwater resources.

As a result, the pre-salt areas now operate under a production-sharing regime. In this model, surplus oil production (the remainder after costs are covered) is divided between the operating company and the federal government. In auctions granting exploration rights, the winning bid is submitted by the company offering the largest share of profits to the government.

This differs from the concession model used for post-salt areas, where the risk of investment—and the potential of discovering oil or not—rests solely with the concessionaire. In return, the company gains ownership of all oil and gas discovered but must pay royalties, a signing bonus, and special participation fees (applicable to high-output fields).

Alongside the production-sharing model, the government created a state-run entity, Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA), which operates under the Ministry of Mines and Energy to manage the government’s share of revenues.

In 2024 alone, PPSA collected R$10.32 billion through the commercialization of the federal government’s share of oil and natural gas across five production-sharing contracts and one production agreement in the Tupi field. This represents a 71% increase compared to the R$6.02 billion collected in 2023.

According to PPSA, projections suggest cumulative revenue of R$506 billion for the federal government by 2034.

New Frontiers

As pre-salt production is expected to peak in the 2030s, Brazil’s oil industry, led by Petrobras, is turning its attention to new potential oil-producing regions.

One promising area is the equatorial margin along Brazil’s northern coast, which awaits a favorable decision from the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), part of the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change (MMA).

Another region of interest is the Pelotas Basin, located off the southern coast. Experts point to discoveries of oil fields in Uruguay and along Africa’s coast—namely Namibia and South Africa—as factors bolstering interest. Geologists note that these areas share similar conditions, as the continents were once joined millions of years ago.

Petrobras has announced plans to invest $79 billion in exploring new oil and gas frontiers by 2029. Of this, 40% will be allocated to exploration along the southern and southeastern margins, 38% to the equatorial margin, and the remainder to international ventures.

Source: Agência Brasil

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