Brazil’s big spenders

Upstream firms are opening their wallets again as offshore prospects look more lucrative

Oil and gas operators globally may have hacked back capex over the past year, offsetting the heavy financial toll brought about by the pandemic. But in Brazil, rising oil prices and competitive pre-salt reserves are tempting companies to stump up extra cash and invest in new offshore projects. In the Santos basin, Norwegian producer Equinor confirmed an $8bn development plan at the Bacalhau field—the discovery made by Brazilian NOC Petrobras in 2012—with estimated recoverable reserves at more than 1bn bl and a breakeven below $35/bl. The project is expected to come online in 2024 and will include one of Brazil’s largest ever floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) units, with 220,