en.Wedoany.com Reported - Brazil's National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) has postponed approval of the development plan for the Gato do Mato field in the Santos Basin due to uncertainties regarding the field's natural gas export. The decision was made during a board meeting this Friday (June 26).
The Gato do Mato project is operated by Shell, holding a 50% stake, with partners including Colombia's Ecopetrol (30%) and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec, 20%). The consortium proposed to produce only oil starting in 2029 and reinject all associated natural gas into the reservoir, but did not set a specific timeline for reviewing the natural gas export plan.
The ANP's Superintendence of Production Development (SDP) believes this review should take place in 2032. The agency recommended approving the development plan but required the consortium to submit a revised version by December 31, 2032, incorporating natural gas export considerations. The technical department considers this deadline provides the operator with an initial full-reinjection phase, helping to reduce uncertainties regarding the field's geology and reservoir behavior.
According to the development plan submitted by the consortium, production could begin in February 2029. Shell estimates that immediately exporting natural gas at the start of production would have a significant impact on oil recovery, affecting approximately 324 million barrels. The company assesses that as the basin matures, the benefits of reinjection may decline, allowing for a reassessment of natural gas export conditions. However, the consortium did not set an exact date for this, estimating that reanalysis could only begin three years after first oil or two years after the last well is drilled.
The development plan includes 11 wells: 5 production wells (4 of which have already been drilled), 4 gas reinjection wells, and 2 water injection wells.
Rapporteur Daniel Maia read the report during the meeting but did not indicate his voting intention. Director-General Artur Watt was the only one to vote, supporting the technical department's recommendation, which he considered balanced the interests of all parties, striking a balance between the ANP's public policy concerns regarding the natural gas supply market and the technical and economic feasibility of the project.
Directors Pietro Mendes and Symone Araújo requested to review the case file and will have up to 30 days to bring the case before the board. Mendes acknowledged the technical department's work in advancing natural gas export but expressed doubts about the applicability of laws and decrees regarding transmission system capacity. Decree No. 12,153 of 2024 stipulates that the ANP is responsible for determining, through an administrative process that includes prior consultation with companies, whether new projects involving significant volumes of natural gas should consider the possibility of natural gas export, as one of the measures to increase energy supply. Mendes served as Director of the Department of Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels at the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) when the decree was enacted. Araújo supported reviewing the case file, considering the process part of the regulatory discussion on access to natural gas transmission and processing infrastructure.
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