Brazil Oil e Gas Production

The Brazilian pre-salt oil region, first explored in 2006 by Petrobras, is an oil-rich offshore reserve trapped below a 2,000m-thick layer of salt, which itself is located below 2,000m-thick post-salt sediments. In this special timeline feature, Offshore Technology looks at how Brazil’s pre-salt region has been developed and why it has recently attracted more investment from major oil firms.

It was announced that many of the major oil giants – including Shell, ExxonMobil, and BP – had come out on top in the fifth round auction for acreage in the Santos and Campos basins offshore Brazil. Pre-salt oil reserves in the basins contain 16.4 billion barrels of crude, according to Petrobras, and total production from the region is estimated at almost five billion barrels in 2025 alone.