Brazil Considers Changing Energy Sector Rules

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 RIO DE JANEIRO 000138 SIPDIS SENSITIVE STATE FOR WHA/BSC, WHA/EPSC, EB/ESC USDOC FOR 4332/ITA/MAC/WH/OLAC/JANDERSEN/ADRISCOLL/MWAR D USDOE FOR CAROLYN GAY AND RHEA DAVIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ENRG EPET EIND EINV BR SUBJECT: Brazil Considers Changing Energy Sector Rules REF: A) RIO DE JANEIRO 91 B) RIO DE JANEIRO 35 C) 07 SAO PAULO 0953 Sensitive But Unclassified - Please Protect Accordingly SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Brazil is considering changes to its oil sector for the purpose of capturing more revenue from the country's significant newfound "pre-salt" oil reserves. Brazil's National Energy Policy Council will meet later this year to decide how to proceed. Meanwhile, further leasing of offshore exploration blocks has been suspended. There are two competing proposals being considered -- maintain the current concession model and increase royalties, or nationalize petroleum reserves and use production sharing agreements to partner with oil companies to develop them. Both options would yield similar revenue levels for the government, but political factors will be the driving force behind the decision on a way forward. The issue has become highly politically charged in recent months, with some government officials making public nationalistic comments. On the ground, energy officials and Petrobras representatives are noticeably hesitant to discuss the issue with outsiders. End Summary. ¶2. (U) Brazil is likely to change its rules for the oil sector later this year, with the goal of raising the amount of revenue the government receives from the oil industry. In the current concession system, foreign companies have rights to the oil in the ground and compensate the government for taking the resources via royalties. Because Brazil has recently discovered significant pre-salt offshore reserves (Refs A and C),there is consensus among government officials that Brazil needs to raise its take from industry. What is unresolved is how to accomplish this. ¶3. (U) Brazil currently charges a lower tax and royalty rate than many other oil producers. This is a legacy from the late 1990s when the country was a net oil importer and wanted to attract companies to explore and find new deposits. After the recent discoveries, industry says that Brazil has every right to raise its take given that it is one of the few promising frontiers in global oil exploration. However, industry representatives hope the government does not go too far, wait too long, or apply new rules to existing contracts. THE SIMPLE SOLUTION? INCREASE ROYALTIES. -------------- ¶4. (U) Currently, companies that produce oil and gas in Brazil pay a 10 percent fixed royalty rate. On top of that, they pay an additional "special participation rate" for large fields ranging between 10-40 percent of revenue depending on the volume, location, depth and age of the field. State governments levy even more taxes (rates vary by state). In total, Brazil collects between a maximum of 57-62 percent in oil royalties for large fields. In comparison, Russia and Kazakhstan take around 70 percent. Some governments take as high as 80 percent. ¶5. (SBU) Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP),the country's oil regulatory agency, is working on a proposal which it plans to present to the government's National Energy Policy Council at the end of June. It will likely propose a hike in the special participation rate to somewhere between 40-60 percent. The Brazilian Petroleum Institute (IBP),Brazil's main oil industry group, supports ANP's proposal and actually contracted an independent study to demonstrate that the government could capture as much revenue by raising the special participation rate as it could by changing to a production sharing model (the competing proposal). The benefit of this approach, argues IBP, is that the rate increase could be handled relatively simply by a Presidential decree. Industry representatives at a May 13 luncheon with visiting Director of the Minerals Management Service, Randall Luthi, also privately confirmed their support for the ANP proposal. RETHINKING PRIVATIZATION: PRODUCTION SHARING AGREEMENTS -------------- -------------- ¶6. (U) Petrobras, however, which currently produces more than 95 percent of Brazil's oil, would be the hardest hit by such a hike in the special participation rate. If the rate were to rise to 60 percent of revenue and applied to existing contracts, for example, the company would have to pay an additional US$4.1 billion -- more than double what it pays in special participation now. For this reason, some in Petrobras are pushing for a new regime altogether. Guillherme Estrella, Petrobras' Director for Exploration and Production, has been the chief proponent for a production sharing regime. ¶7. (SBU) Under a production sharing regime, Brazil would have to nationalize the country's petroleum resources by an act of Congress. The Brazilian government would legally own all of the country's petroleum resources, and then partner with oil companies who would assume the costs of exploration and production in exchange for a share of the revenue. Production-sharing basically shifts the ownership of oil from companies to the government, and inverts the flow of payments between the government and companies. Exxon executives visited Embassy Brasilia in April specifically to express their concerns about this model and a few others that were rumored to be under consideration. It was their view that the production sharing regime would be a disincentive to private industry. ¶8. (U) Such a regime change would be very complicated, which is why many see this as an unlikely outcome. First, Brazil takes great pride in the openness of its petroleum industry. Nationalization would be considered a very serious political statement. Second, in today's political climate, there is little confidence in the Brazilian Congress and any such legislation that it might pass. Third, production sharing requires that Brazil have a 100 percent state-owned company to manage the petroleum resources. ¶9. (U) While Petrobras used to be a wholly state-owned company, 63 percent of the company's shares are now publicly traded. It would be impossible for the company to revert. One idea under consideration is to use the Energy Research Corporation (Empresa de Pesquisa Energetica -EPE),the Rio-based strategic planning arm of the Ministry of Mines and Energy. In fact, EPE President Mauricio Tolmasquim is said to be currently participating in many petroleum-related meetings not historically in EPE's portfolio. TIMING OF OUTCOME IMPORTANT -------------- ¶9. (U) Regardless of outcome, international industry sees oil exploration in Brazil as a lucrative venture and is eager to get into the pre-salt game. However, it fears that it may have to wait two or three years before getting the opportunity to bid on new exploration opportunities since offshore oil lease auctions have been suspended since the pre-salt discoveries were confirmed in November 2007. ¶10. (SBU) Some industry representatives think that Petrobras is pushing production sharing with the primary objective of stalling the National Energy Policy Council's deliberations. This would give Petrobras more time to pull together resources to bid competitively on more pre-salt blocks. By many accounts, Petrobras is not currently well positioned to win prime blocks in an open auction against international oil companies such as Exxon and domestic newcomer OGX. ¶11. (U) For its part, ANP wants to resume oil lease auctions as soon as possible. It realizes that its very existence is dependent on an open and competitive sector. ANP hopes to offer its next bid round sometime in 2009, possibly as early as the first quarter if the National Energy Policy Council accepts the ANP royalty increase proposal. ¶12. (U) ConGen Rio de Janeiro will continue to follow this issue closely and report on further developments. This cable has been coordinated with and cleared by Embassy Brasilia. MARTINEZ