Pre-salt to give Brazil fastest non-OPEC oil output growth

Brazil could experience the fastest oil production growth among non-OPEC countries in the next decade as it reaps the benefits of booming investment in deepwater exploration, a top energy official said on Thursday.

The South American nation will raise output to 5Mb/d over the period, up from around 2.6Mb/d today, according to Décio Oddone (pictured), the director general of oil and gas regulator ANP.

Growth is expected to be driven by pre-salt fields deep below the Atlantic, which are projected to comprise 74% of Brazil's total crude output by end-2026, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

"Given that we have this great potential, we have the obligation to make the most of it," Oddone said during a presentation at the OTC Brasil oil and gas conference in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday. "Brazil has to learn not to waste opportunities."

He added that oil tender rounds would prompt demand for 30 new production platforms over the period.

"This will represent 850bn reais [US$261bn] in investments, of which US$350bn will come from [Brazilian shipyards].

SEE Brazil's top pre-salt projects here

AUCTION SEASON

Oddone's forecast came ahead of Brazil's second and third bidding rounds for pre-salt acreage on Friday.

The auctions are seen as key to the government's hopes of jump-starting a local industry ravaged by corruption, political turbulence and lower oil prices.

On Tuesday, the energy ministry said it would publish a six-year oil and gas auction calendar by December. The new schedule is expected to include acreage offered under Brazil's concession contract model and its pre-salt production sharing regime.

It could also feature accumulations in the so-called transfer of rights area, a subsection of the pre-salt layer ceded to state-run company Petrobras as part of its 2010 share offer and capitalization plan.