Pre-salt layer

The oil reserves found in the pre-salt layer of the Brazilian coast are within the maritime area considered the exclusive economic zone of Brazil.

Pre-salt oil is of good quality, although it is found in reserves that are in deep-sea areas and under thick layers of salt, requiring large-scale investment to extract it.

The Danish company Maersk Oil made the first recent pre-salt discovery in the Kwanza Basin in late 2011 with the Azul well on Block 23.

In January 2011, Angola announced that it awarded 11 pre-salt offshore blocks in the Kwanza basin, following a closed licensing round in which a few selected International Oil Companies (IOCs) were invited.

IOCs that were awarded blocks include Petrobras, Maersk Oil, Cobalt International, BP, Repsol, TotalEnergies, Eni, ConocoPhillips, and Statoil.

The pre-salt layer was formed in restricted basins in the South Atlantic due to the break-up of Gondwana and arid climates
Schematic diagram showing pre-salt layers and halokinesis , the movement of salt over geologic time.