Brazil Records Increase In Proven Oil Reserves In 2023

By Ana Cristina Campos

In 2023, Brazil saw a 6.98 percent increase in proven oil reserves compared to 2022. Companies contracted for exploration and production in the country declared 15.894 billion barrels of proven oil reserves. These figures are from the Annual Resources and Reserves Bulletin of the National Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels Agency (ANP).

Proven reserves refer to the amount of oil or natural gas that geoscience and engineering data analysis indicates can be commercially recovered with reasonable certainty as of the reference date of the Annual Resources and Reserves Bulletin. When probabilistic methods are employed, the probability that the quantity recovered is equal to or greater than the estimate must be at least 90 percent.

According to the ANP, fluctuations in the volume of Brazilian oil and natural gas reserves result from production during the year, additional reserves from new development projects, declarations of commerciality, and revisions of field reserves due to various technical and economic factors.

Brazil’s position

Geologist and professor Jorge Picanço Figueiredo, from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), notes that Brazil’s position on the international stage regarding proven reserves is not particularly significant. “The United States has 68.8 billion proven reserves, Russia 107.8 billion, Saudi Arabia 297 billion, Iraq 145 billion, Iran 157 billion, and Venezuela 303 billion,” he said, emphasizing that Brazil’s oil is of high quality.

The professor highlights that Brazil extracts 3.5 million barrels of oil per day. “In 365 days, we yield 1.27 billion barrels a year. We essentially produce a giant oil field every year. Our production is high, significantly exceeding our domestic consumption of around 2.5 million barrels a day. The surplus of approximately 1 million barrels is sold on the foreign market.”

Figueiredo emphasizes that oil will remain the primary energy source for the next 50 years. “The world currently consumes 105 million barrels of oil a day, while Brazil consumes 2.5 million barrels. Our contribution to world production stands at 3.4 percent.”