In April, there were 90.6 million m³ per day returned to wells, maintaining a rate over 50% since October 2022
Natural gas reinjection in Brazil follows at high level
In April, there were 90.6 million m³ per day returned to wells, maintaining a rate over 50% since October 2022
The reinjection of natural gas in oil wells in Brazil remains high. According to the April of the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels), oil companies operating in the country returned 90.6 million m³/day (cubic meters per day) to reservoirs in the month. The volume corresponds to 54% of total production in the period, which was 168 million m³/day.
Data from the agency point out that the practice intensified from 2015, with the beginning of the operation of the major pre-salt platforms. In Brazil, about 85% of the natural gas produced is associated type, ie extracted from oil. To enable oil production, companies also need to remove gas, which forces them to decide between market this input or reinject it.
In practice, the return of gas to the reservoir is used as a strategy to increase oil production. The process raises the pressure on the deposits, facilitating oil extraction. As oil has higher market value, the decision is often more advantageous from an economic point of view for operators.
Countries with a profile similar to that of Brazil – a predominance of associated gas – also adopt reinjection as a common practice. However, rates range from 20% to 35%, below the percentage of more than 50% registered in Brazil.
Import of Argentina
Faced with this situation, Brazil imports up to 30 million m³/day of natural gas from Argentina by 2030. The goal was classified as “feasible” By the Minister of Mines and Energy, (PSD), because of the potential of the Muerta cow deposit and the repressed demand of the national industry.
According to the minister, 17 Brazilian companies are already authorized by ANP to import the input of the neighboring country.
“The potential for supplying cow Muerta is infinite. And we have a powerful industry on the Brazilian side, thirsty for natural gas to ”he declared. He also stressed that “os volumes have already crossed ” the border between countries. “A milestone we celebrate”he stated during the seminar “Challenges and Solutions for Regional Gasite Integration”, held at the Ministry’s headquarters, in Brasilia.
To make this advance viable, the minister defended the need for adjustments in transport rates in both Argentina and Bolivia, as well as reviewing internal costs in Brazil. According to him, the cost of transportation and distribution can reach nearly $ 5 per million BTU (measurement that equals 26.8 cubic meters), which compromises the competitiveness of the input.
Silveira said the tariffs are “On peace” of the Federal Government and stressed that “The same infrastructure cannot be paid twice”. He also stated that there is a commitment by the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, (PSD), to work for reducing the cost of distribution in the state.
Among the works considered essential for the advancement of gasifer integration is phase 2 of the Uruguaiana-Porto Alegre pipeline. With 593 kilometers long, the project aims to interconnect the west border to the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre. The investment forecast is R $ 6.83 billion, with transportation capacity of up to 15 million cubic meters per day, according to EPE (Energy Research Company).
Lack of infrastructure
Today, Brazil has just over 1/3 of the neighboring country. According to data compiled by IBP (Brazilian Institute of Petroleum and Gas) at the request of the Poder360Brazil today has 58,436 km of pipelines.
Argentina has a total extension of 162,500 km. Only the Argentine distribution network surpasses the entire Brazilian network. When compared to the infrastructure of Europe and the US, the Brazilian network does not reach 3% of the others.
Despite producing more gas, Brazil was behind Argentina in the development of the infrastructure needed to distribute it internally. One of the reasons for this difference is in the exploration profile of each country: while Argentines concentrate a significant part of their reserves in terrestrial areas, Brazil extracts most of the deep water from the pre-salt gas.
This feature requires higher investments in ducts and equipment to transport the gas to the coast. In addition, there is another factor that limits the use of the input: the practice of gas reinjection into oil wells. This technique, adopted by companies such as Petrobras, is used to increase oil recovery and maximize profits with oil production.
