Brazil has approximately 12 billion barrels of oil reserves and 28 billion cubic metres of natural gas reserves.
When the Brazilian government began the process of de-regulating the oil and gas industry, it wanted licensing and environmental management processes that would ensure that future oil and gas development would be sustainable and take place within a robust and transparent framework.
As part of this process Halcrow was appointed to carry out consultation, studies and analysis to consider scenarios for the development of the offshore oil and gas sector in Brazil for up to 10 years into the future. Our results helped the government to formulate environmental policy and regulatory procedures for offshore oil and gas exploration and production in the three marine basins that contain the vast majority of the country’s offshore oil and gas reserves: Santos, Campos and Espírito Santo.
We looked at ways to improve and streamline the licensing process for offshore oil and gas exploration and production activities, provided environmental protection guidelines for these activities, and developed an environmental management plan for the three marine basins and the 1,500km of coastline between them.
During the project we looked at current exploration and production processes within the three marine basins, estimated development over the next five to 10 years and built a database and geographical information system (GIS) to provide the offshore concession regulator IBAMA with practical tools to help with decision-making. We also carried out hydrodynamic and oil spill modelling, and studied the human environment to identify and analyse socio-economic and land use issues.