Fairplay: Offshore Production Faces Fresh Hurdles

“According to Poten & Partners, Brazil’s enormous offshore discoveries could bring the country’s output from 2.2M bpd today to 8M bpd by 2020. . . . Significant new production capacity will not automatically translate into corresponding seaborne volumes. As Poten explained, the equation will be complex, hinging on refining capacity and the mixture of imports and exports, as well as products and crude. As a former net importer, ‘much of Brazil’s existing refining capacity is designed to process crude of lighter quality than it currently produces’, said Poten.”