RESUMO
Com menos de 50 anos de atividade empresarialmente organizada a exploração de petróleo no Brasil encontra-se em fase de mudança com a aprovação, em 1997, da nova legislação do setor de petróleo. Descreve-se neste trabalho o período pré-Petrobras (1858 a 1953) e a exclusividade da Petrobras (1954 a 1997) que resultou no expressivo volume de reservas de petróleo no país, da ordem de 17 bilhões de barris de óleo equivalente no final de 1997. Projetos de produção já iniciados elevarão a produção a mais de 1,5 milhão de barris de óleo por dia no início do novo século. O gás natural crescerá rapidamente sua participação na matriz energética a partir de 1999. Com a instalação da Agência Nacional de Petróleo (ANP) inicia-se uma nova fase, sendo esta responsável pela atração de novos investimentos na busca de novas reservas nas bacias sedimentares brasileiras, cujo potencial é ainda significativo. Diversas empresas internacionais deverão estar operando no país no curto prazo, inicialmente associadas à Petrobras. O modelo adotado para as atividades de exploração e produção no país é o de concessão. A atividade no Brasil nesta área dependerá do regime fiscal que vier a ser implantado.
The approval of the new Petroleum Law in 1997 proposed a dramatic change in the activities of petroleum exploration in Brazil after almost fifty years of its initial entrepreneurual organization, represented by the creation of Petrobras, in 1953. In this work two important periods are described: the pre-Petrobras period (1858 to 1953) and the period when Petrobras acted alone in the oil business (1954 to 1997). During the last one, significant results were achieved. The amount of reserves reached 17 billion barrels of oil equivalent and were made available to the country at the end of 1997. Production projects already in place or under development will raise Brazilian daily production to levels of 1.5 million barrels of oil per day at the beginning of the next century. Natural gas will have its participation in the Brazilian energy matrix rapidly growing after 1999. The creation of the Agência Nacional de Petróleo (ANP) represents a new stage in the oil exploration in Brazil. the ANP will be responsible for the attraction of additional investments in the oil business aiming to discover new reserves in the Brazilian sedimentary basins, which have been recognized as bearing still significant remaining potential. Many international oil companies will be operating in the country in the short term, initially in partnerships with Petrobras. According to the new regulation, the concession contract system was adopted for the exploration and production activities. Nevertheless, the level of activities expected is still heavily dependant on the final form that will be adopted for the sical regimes involving future exploration and prodction activities in Brazil.