Pre
Brazil's pre-salt oil can already be considered a low-cost product in the global oil sector, and can compete on equal terms with shale oil and gas, the U.S. unconventional products. This is what Adriano Bastos, president of BP's Brazilian operation. According to Bastos, there were geological and technological advances since the pre-salt drilling started, which increased the oil's efficiency. This turned made the already excellent product a very competitive one. "Pre-salt is becoming more and more a low-cost product, and we are competitive, even against U.S. shale gas and oil," he said during a lecture in Rio de Janeiro. Shale oil and gas are obtained through fracking, a technique consisting in injecting water and chemicals at high pressure at one to two kilometers deep underground. The high pressure breaks the shale (a kind of sedimentary rock), releasing any oil or gas embedded therein. Recent data from ANP (National Agency of Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels) show that pre-salt production is already more than 50% of the total national oil production. British company BP holds 21 exploration licenses for oil and gas in Brazil, in four sedimentary basins. It also explores pre-salt oil in the country. Translated by NATASHA MADOV