Wednesday, 9 July, 2025 / Edition 66

This will be the last episode of Well Read that I will write from Norway. My wife and I just re-visited the Pulpit Rock and the Falling Rock near Stavanger, both world famous geological wonders! It is so fun to challenge our physical limits as we age.

Now, let’s see what happened in the energy world last week.

Shangyou Nie

Editor, Well Read

Brazil Defends Petrobras Oil Expansion as Country Hosts COP30

Shutterstock.com

Brazil will host the COP30 climate summit in November. In the meantime, Petrobras is growing its oil production. Brazilian Foreign Ministry’s Secretary for Climate, Energy, and Environment, Chief Climate Negotiator, and head of COP30, André Corrêa do Lago, defended Petrobras’ production growth, claiming it is compatible with global efforts to combat climate change.

What Corrêa do Lago said:

• Corrêa do Lago told the Financial Times, “We are thinking of a ‘net zero’ that incorporates some years continuing to use oil.”

  • He also pointed out that key countries, including the United States and Norway, are also expanding oil production.

  • Corrêa do Lago said that some countries have no choice but to rely on revenue from oil and gas to boost economic development.

• He added, “I believe that all countries are analyzing how they can reach net zero in a way that is economically viable, technologically viable, and that logically should be in the direction of the transition away [from fossil fuels].”

• The Brazilian government says that some of Petrobras’ profits from oil production go toward helping renewable energy development and protecting the Amazon rain forest.

Brazil’s oil production growth:

• Petrobras produced about 2.7 million barrels of oil per day in 2024.

• According to a recent analysis by Rystad Energy, Brazil’s production could grow to 3.2 million barrels per day by 2029, placing it among countries with the largest production growth rates worldwide.

• Petrobras is one of the industry leaders in offshore exploration and production.

• Majors including ExxonMobil, Shell, TotalEnergies, BP, and Equinor are investing in Brazil as a key country within their portfolios.

• All three Chinese NOCs—CNPC, CNOOC, and Sinopec—are also partners in oil exploration and development in Brazil.

• Recently, Brazil held a successful offshore tender for exploration blocks in frontier basins including the Foz do Amazonas Basin.

• Chevron has successfully won nine exploration blocks in Brazil’s latest bid round in Foz do Amazonas Basin.

COP30 background:

• Some 200 countries agreed to shift away from fossil fuels by 2050 during COP28 in Dubai in 2023.

• COP30 will be held in November 2025, in the Brazilian city of Belém, near the Amazon rain forest.

• COP30 will focus on implementing agreements reached during previous COP meetings.

What to watch:

• Will other countries (such as Argentina) decide to follow the United States and leave the Paris Agreement?

• Who will host COP31 in 2026? Brazil has been the third “petro” state in a row to host a COP meeting: COP28 was in the United Arab Emirates, and COP29 was held in Baku, Azerbaijan.

  • The United Nations has five regional groupings: Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe and others. 2026 will be the year when the COP submit will be hosted by the last group.

  • Australia has submitted a bid to host COP31 next year in Adelaide, South Australia.

Sponsored

SAFA Dashboard Unveiled at URTeC 2025

Seismos unveiled the SAFA™ Dashboard at URTeC 2025, transforming pump-rate step changes into real-time completion insights. The platform delivers closed-loop, feedback-driven insight on pipe friction, perforation efficiency, and near-wellbore resistance within seconds. 

Germany Greenlights Offshore Drilling by Dutch Operator

Frode Kopang/Shutterstock

Last week, the German government approved a controversial drilling plan for a Dutch operator to develop a North Sea gas field. The N05-A gas field is located in the border area between the Netherlands and Germany. Next, the two governments will sign a unitization agreement to allow full development of the gas field.

The latest:

• Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy approved the offshore gas development project.

• This is a significant step forward for Dutch operator ONE-Dyas as it has been trying to bring the field on stream “in 2024–2025.”

Background:

• ONE-Dyas is the largest privately owned exploration and production company in the Netherlands.

  • It formed in 2019 after Oranje-Nassau Energie (ONE) and Dyas merged in April 2019.

  • The company is focusing on the North Sea in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Germany, producing about 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2023.

• In 2021, the former German government pledged not to issue any new offshore drilling permit in the German North Sea.

  • The new Christian Democratic Union government that came to power in May has prioritized economic development over climate change policy.

• The Netherlands’ Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy granted ONE-Dyas the right to develop the N05-A field in June 2022.

• The local government from Lower Saxony, Germany previously granted an 18-year license for ONE-Dyas to drill the N05-A field.

• The drilling will take place on the N05 platform on the Dutch side of the North Sea, about 1.5 kilometers from the German border. It has been delayed by environmental concerns.

About the No5-A field:

• The N05-A gas field was discovered in 2017 on the Dutch side of the North Sea, in 25–30 meters of water depth.

  • It was discovered on Permian sandstone with partners Energie Beheer Nederland (EBN), and Hansa Hydrocarbons, a subsidiary of Discover Exploration.

• In November 2024, ONE-Dyas drilled the first development well on the field.

• ONE-Dyas said that power for the drilling operations will come from a German offshore wind farm to make the operation emissions-free.

• The field could deliver up to 13 billion cubic meters of gas annually, equivalent to roughly 15 percent of Germany’s gas consumption in 2024.

• The drilling site is located in the Wadden Sea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Next steps:

• The N05-A field will be produced, and gas will be sent to the Dutch gas network.

• On its website, ONE-Dyas says gas production will start in 2024–2025.

• Up to 12 development wells will be drilled from the platform.

What they’re saying:

• “The company has also pledged to produce natural gas only, as long as there is demand for natural gas in the Netherlands and Germany, so that the project does not conflict with its goal of climate neutrality,” said Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in a statement.

• “This [drilling] not only strengthens the security of supply for our neighbors, but also the European gas market—and thus, us,” said Katherina Reiche, Germany’s Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy.

🚨Trend alert:

• This is the latest example of European companies and governments taking a step back from environmental pursuits to prolong the use of oil and gas to meet energy demand.
• This is a part of the larger effort to make Europe independent of Russian gas.

👍 If you enjoyed this edition of Well Read, consider supporting AAPG's brand of newsletters by forwarding to a friend or colleague and signing up for our other newsletters here.

➡️ Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Sign up for Well Read here.

✉️ To get in touch with Shangyou, send an email to editorial@aapg.org.