In the event, the Ministry of Mines and Energy also advocated lower payments of royalties for small and medium-sized onshore companies
A faster, simpler and standardized environmental licensing process, with electronic processes, is among the objectives of Ibama’s, Brazilian federal environmental regulator, Licensing Board. The new director, Rose Hofmann, said in a plenary session at Rio Oil & Gas, that the body will adopt terms of reference for similar situations, which eases and standardizes the licenses. There will also be investment in personnel qualification and adoption of control and management mechanisms.
"We will have an annual licensing plan [with projects planned for the period] and goals to pursue efficiency and agility," she said. IBP’s executive secretary of Exploration and Production, Antonio Guimaraes, cited the industry's efforts to help speed up the licensing processes, such as the cooperation agreement with Ibama for the preparation of terms of reference and the mapping of the Brazilian coastline and islands. For Guimarães, the slowness of the licenses jeopardizes the industry. He exemplified saying that no drilling license of the 13th Round, in 2015, has been granted yet.
Fewer royalties for the onshore
In another panel, the Secretary of Oil, Natural Gas and Renewable Fuels of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), Márcio Felix argued that small and medium-sized oil companies operating in the onshore segment should pay less royalties to the states, municipalities and to the Union. Currently, the transfer amounts to 10%, but Felix believes that 5% or a progressive percentage would be a better solution so that low-production projects are not negatively affected or rendered impossible due to the price drop in the international market.
Felix spoke to an audience of executives and experts of the oil industry during the Onshore Forum, a parallel event that was held during Rio Oil & Gas, in Rio de Janeiro. "We are in the threshold of economic feasibility in some areas and for that reason we need to think of a number of measures to help us open a new range of opportunities. We want to provide all the required support so the country may find in the onshore segment another source of development", the secretary explained.
Congressman Beto Rosado presented the draft bill 4663, which is being processed in the Lower House, which provides for a new regulatory framework for the onshore segment. The project provides for new rules regarding infrastructure, logistics, environment and credit policies for small and medium-sized companies of the onshore segment. "With the approval of the draft bill and the resumption of onshore exploration, we will have a new scenario that will generate more jobs and income for the country", he argued.
Currently, there are 329 exploration blocks in Brazil, according to the National Agency of Petroleum (ANP). Of these, 209 blocks belong to the onshore segment, which counts on 33 operators. Of the 403 fields under development or production in Brazil, 286 are onshore fields, operated by 23 companies. The onshore produces today 146 thousand oil barrels per day, about 6% of the 2.6 million barrels of oil produced daily in the country.
For the president of IBP, Jorge Camargo, the onshore segment can be an important vector of economic growth in Brazil. "Those are extremely rich areas with excellent development potential. Besides, they also drive the local market and diversify the oil industry", he said.
Another highlight today in Rio Oil & Gas was the Secretary of the Investment Partnership Program, Moreira Franco, saying that he hopes to see soon the approval of two points of the draft bill on the end of the single operator, which is being processed in the House of Representatives, with sanctions. According to him, one of the government's goals is to strengthen the oil and gas industry. "With the strengthening of the oil industry, Petrobras will revive", he said.
Moreira Franco also advocated the balance of revenues and expenditures in Brazil, which, according to him, has to maintain a budget surplus to pay debts, reduce the interest rate that is currently at 14% to control the inflation, stabilize public accounts and ensure legal safety in contracts, to become a competitive country. "The focus is on the economy and on the fiscal target. Without it, we will not balance the national accounts. Yesterday we approved in the second round in the Lower House a constitutional amendment that will help us to balance revenues and expenditure with the actual budget", he said.
