Brazil’s Petrobras Reports Increase in Proven Reserves for 2024
Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas giant Petrobras has recorded an increase in its proven reserves of oil, condensate, and natural gas in 2024 compared to the previous year.
The oil and gas giant disclosed two values as of December 31, 2024. The first one, which is in line with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reporting rules, places Petrobras’ proven reserves at 11.4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe). Oil and condensate account for 85% of this amount and natural gas for 15%.
In 2024, the firm saw a 1.3 billion boe increase, with a reserve replacement rate (IRR) of 154%. The Brazilian major believes the increase occurred mainly due to the progress in the development of the Atapu and Sépia fields, and to the good performance of the assets, with emphasis on the Búzios, Itapu, Tupi (formerly known as Lula), and Sépia fields in the pre-salt Santos Basin.
In mid-December, Petrobras awarded contracts to two ultra-deepwater drillships, Seadrill’s West Tellus and Ventura Offshore Midco’s DS Carolina, for work on Atapu and Sépia.
The energy firm emphasizes the importance of investing in maximizing recovery factor, exploring new frontiers, and diversifying its exploration portfolio to replace oil and gas reserves, given the expected production for the coming years.
Petrobras also reports reserves in line with the requirements of the ANP and the country’s Society of Petroleum Engineers (ANP/SPE), reaching 11.7 boe.
The differences between the reserves estimated by ANP/SPE definitions and those based on SEC’s reporting rules are mainly due to different economic assumptions and the consideration of volumes expected to be produced beyond the concession contract expiration date in Brazilian fields according to ANP reserves regulation.
Petrobras recently received ANP’s approval for the unitization of the Berbigão and Sururu fields, seven years after submitting revised development plans for the reservoirs.
The company also extended the assignment of the FPSO Cidade de Angra dos Reis at the Tupi field, which was the largest producer in Brazil in August 2024 according to ANP, producing 832,600 thousand bbl/d of oil and 43.19 million m³/d of natural gas.