Brazil beyond the Continental Shelf: the new pre-salt frontier
06/04/2020
The discovery of oil reserves in the pre-salt and the development of technologies that would allow the economically viable exploration of this oil, Brazil changed its level on the world board of producers. The country already had an important production, but the amount of reserves discovered showed that the country would have a more important role to play than before..
What has appeared is that this movement is not over yet. New oil reserves are potentially indicated, more and more inland. It is currently considered the territory of a country at a distance of 200 nautical miles (or equivalent to 370 km) from your beaches. This space is called the continental shelf, and the country has sovereignty over it..
Some initial estimates speak of something that exceeds the 20 millions of barrels of oil and gas that could exist in these areas not yet covered. Considering that the estimate is that in the current pre-salt area there are 40 billion barrels, what is to come would increase in 50% the total of Brazilian potential reserves.
Since 2004 the Brazilian government tries to expand this limit, forwarding a petition to the UN (https://www.un.org/Depts/los/clcs_new/submissions_files/submission_bra.htm). Internally, the government is already trying to take over the spaces that exceed the 200 miles, as can be seen in the discussion taking place at the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) that you want to include blocks located outside the exclusive zone (Brazilian sovereign) for the auction scheduled to take place in 2020.
Currently Brazil can explore 3,6 million km2 in what is known as "area of economic exploration". This means that the country is the only one that can carry out economic activities, install artificial islands, and establish marine life protection projects. If the Brazilian claim is granted, this area will become 4,5 million km2.
Given the breadth of the Brazilian coast, as well as its direction in relation to other countries, the biggest problem is on the coast of the North and Northeast regions. While the distance in relation to other countries in the Southeast allows us to advance the space without conflicting with the same distance in relation to other countries, in the North and Northeast regions there is a potential overlap of projected spaces.
in these regions, in addition to the oil and gas potential itself, there are also indications of large presence of ores, with special emphasis on cobalt and manganese. N & HAND by the least, the area is called the “Blue Amazon”. This further increases Brazilian interest in addressing these wide-ranging changes in what is considered an exclusive economic area.
Considering the size of the Brazilian coast and its capacity for projection and expansion, there is a strong government interest in consolidating our economic sovereignty over this area in public international law..
should stand out, However, that this is not just a political action at the UN. Parallel to this movement, it is necessary to understand the strategic importance of the region and its potential occupation. The Brazilian armed forces must be able to understand the dynamics of the area and carry out exercises that allow for an occupation, like what other powers have been doing.
See the article “The importance of the Malvinas Islands for Brazil” https://mapamundi.org.br/2020/a-importancia-das-ilhas-malvinas-para-o-brasil/
originally published in World map (www.mapamundi.org.br)