Brazil’s Petrobras has authorised studies for a logistics centre in the Amazonian state of Amapa, where the state-run oil firm started exploring in a promising offshore block last week, state Governor Clecio Luis told Reuters.
The company’s logistics subsidiary Transpetro will do the studies, Luis said, adding the centre would support Petrobras operations in the event of a major discovery.
Petrobras did not provide more details. Previously Petrobras Chief Executive Magda Chambriard said that if there is a major find, the state-run oil firm could start production in about seven years.
Petrobras is not looking only at Amapa for potential sites, but the studies are a “victory” for the state as it seeks to attract investments, Luis said on the sidelines of the OTC industry event in Rio de Janeiro.
During the event, the governor had a joint meeting with about 20 firms, according to a person who attended, including representatives from SBM Offshore, Siemens, Subsea 7 and Technip FMC, who provide services for the oil industry. Firms signalled they will look into setting up shop in Amapa, he told Reuters in a late Wednesday interview.
“We’re working very hard to prepare the workforce, to regularise areas, to guarantee incentives and to change legislation if necessary,” Luis said.
Last week Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama gave Petrobras the green light to drill an exploratory well in Foz do Amazonas, off the coast of Oiapoque, in Amapa. The drilling should last around five months.
The area is considered Petrobras’ most promising oil frontier, sharing geology with nearby Guyana, where ExxonMobil is developing huge fields. The licence has been celebrated by Amapa’s politicians and the federal government.
Small town could receive centre
One of the least developed states in Brazil, home to around 800,000 people, Amapa could see a dramatic change in its fortunes if Petrobras starts production there, said Luis, who hopes to use royalties to remake the local economy.
While Petrobras is operating out of Oiapoque for the exploration phase, they would need a second base for the production phase, the governor said. He added that the most likely cities for that purpose would be Calçoene and Santana, far down the coast.
Oiapoque is surrounded by environmental reserves and Indigenous lands, which would make it difficult to develop a major logistics centre, said Luis.
Calçoene, a small town of about 11,000 people between Oiapoque and state capital Macapa, has ample space for development and is the closest to other blocks Petrobras has in the region.
Santana, a city of around 118,000, is close to Macapa and already has logistics infrastructure that could be expanded, said Luis. He gave no timeline for the studies to conclude.
(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira Editing by Brad Haynes and David Gregorio)
