Brazil plans auction of seven oilfields despite environmental warnings

President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration plans to auction off seven offshore oilfields in waters off the northeast coast of Brazil despite warnings from Brazil’s environment institute, IBAMA. The environmental body advised against exploration of oil in seven out of 42 offshore fields, originally offered for auction last month by the Brazilian Petroleum Agency. IBAMA cited that exploration in the highly sensitive locations could lead to oil spills and possibly destroy the whole 913 square kilometers of the Abrolhos islands.

All the proposed ventures are in the waters off the coast of the state of Bahia; three in the Jacuipe Basin and four in the Camamu-Almada region. The Jacuipe Basin fields are to be auctioned in October.

Brazil is the third largest producer of oil in the Americas and the world’s ninth largest producer of oil, according to the US Energy Information Administration. The country produced 3.24m barrels per day of petroleum and other derivatives in 2016.

In other news, Brazil’s oil and gas regulator, ANP (the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels), announced details of the upcoming 16th-round oilfields auction under the concession regime. ANP has stipulated a higher bonus amount for the CM-541 block in the Campos Basin of R$1.37bn.

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