Petroleum Agency of Brazil wants small and medium oil producers

The National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (ANP) of Brazil wants to establish in the country a new business category: that of small and medium oil producers.
In an interview to Agência Brasil, the official news agency of the government of Brazil, the director general at the ANP, Haroldo Lima, stated that the target is to "make the opening of the oil sector not restricted to great producers, be they Brazilian or foreign."
"We want to make the oil sector, specifically in the case of land fields with marginal reserves of oil, into a space where small and medium producers may develop," he guaranteed.
The ANP intends to promote, still in the first half of this year, a third tender for marginal areas. Known as "little rounds", these are smaller tenders for oil exploration areas that take place between the agency's auctions of new areas for exploration and production of oil and gas.
Some 20 marginal areas located in the northeast of the country, especially in the state of Bahia, should be tendered. "The tender should take place in Salvador," added Lima.
Haroldo Lima said that, together, the states of Bahia, Sergipe and Rio Grande do Norte have 3,000 wells in 157 oil fields. "They are of marginal interest to large companies, but of great interest to medium and small companies in Brazil," stated Lima.
In the two previous tenders for sale of fields, there was mobilization of around 100 small businessmen who wanted to enter the oil field. Of the 17 areas offered in the first two "little rounds", 16 were purchased.
"The small and medium businessmen got ready to participate in this round, they hired technicians specialised in oil to analyse the areas, showing the great potential there is to develop the sector in Brazil. We are going to go on making this effort," declared the director general at ANP.
To the agency, providing incentives to participation of medium and small companies in the oil and gas sector contributes to the regional development and permits the generation of jobs and income and the increase of tax collection.
For more information click here and read the article in ANBA website