ANP includes the site of a farmer who found oil in Ceará in new exploration blocks

Farmer Sidrônio Moreira was excited about the possibility of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP) exploring the oil he found on a site in Tabuleiro do Norte, in the interior of Ceará, by drilling the ground in search of water. The ANP approved, this Friday (4), the indication of 24 new exploratory blocks in the onshore portion of the so-called Potiguar Basin, located between Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte, for possible inclusion in future auctions.

"I was very excited, because it's another step. It's going to move forward. Resolving this as soon as possible is good for us", declared the farmer in a press release from the Federal Institute of Ceará (IFCE).

Sidrônio was at the headquarters of the Tabuleiro do Norte campus of the Federal Institute of Ceará (IFCE), last Friday (4), to follow an ANP online meeting about the exploration blocks. The farmer approached IFCE in December 2024 seeking help after discovering the substance. The institution carried out the first tests with the liquid and helped the farmer contact the ANP in the following months.

Since the discovery of the substance, Sidrônio's hands were tied: he was unable to build a water well, he was prohibited from drilling other points due to the risk of environmental contamination due to the presence of the oil and he still had debts left over from the loan he took out from the bank to carry out the drilling.

The National Petroleum Agency (ANP) approved, this Friday (4), the indication of 24 new exploratory blocks in the onshore portion of the so-called Potiguar Basin, located between Ceará and Rio Grande do Norte, for possible inclusion in future auctions. Among them is the site of Tabuleiro do Norte, in the interior of Ceará, where a farmer found an oil well while looking for water.

"Among the areas indicated is the POT-T-551 block, which includes the region of the city of Tabuleiro do Norte, in Ceará, where the occurrence of fluid already confirmed as oil by the ANP Technological Research and Analysis Center (CPT/ANP) was recently reported", confirmed the ANP, in a text published on the agency's website.

The ANP explained that the indication of 24 new exploration blocks has the objective of possible inclusion in future cycles of the Permanent Concession Offer (OPC). "In other words, the indicated areas can only be made available for offer after the 6th cycle, scheduled to take place on October 7, 2026", added the agency.

According to the institution, the approved blocks will still need to complete steps such as environmental analysis and issuance of a Joint Manifestation by the Ministries of Mines and Energy (MME) and Environment and Climate (MMA), as well as holding a public hearing.

The inclusion of the site in the exploration block does not mean that the oil found on the Sidrônio property can now be explored. The indication of the block is another formal step that delimits the area and makes it "available" for future bidding. Before that, however, the block still goes through environmental assessments, technical analyzes and other stages. Once considered ready to go to auction, it still depends on whether companies are interested in purchasing that block.

The oil discovery was made by farmer Sidrônio Moreira, who was drilling the ground to form a water well to supply his property, in November 2024. The small property is in the rural area of ​​Tabuleiro do Norte, more than 210 kilometers from Fortaleza. He took out two loans to pay for the drilling.

The family had informed the ANP about the possible find in July 2025, and the agency's team visited the site 7 months later, on March 12, 2026, after the case was revealed by g1. In May, the ANP completed the physical-chemical tests and confirmed that the substance found by the farmer was crude oil.

With the confirmation of oil, the agency opened an administrative process to evaluate the area and its geological context, in order to study the size of the reserves and the feasibility of exploration. In Brazil, territories with possible oil deposits are divided into "blocks", which, in turn, are auctioned off to oil exploration companies.

The Sidrônio Moreira site is close to the so-called Potiguar Basin, an area located between Rio Grande do Norte and Ceará, which comprises both territory on the continent (onshore, also known as the terrestrial portion) and at sea (offshore). In several parts of the basin, there is oil.

After confirming and delimiting the deposits, the ANP divides the region into exploration blocks, that is, into different areas that will be auctioned for companies to explore for oil. The process as a whole, from discovery to completion of research, auction, installation of the operation, obtaining environmental licenses, can take years.

The Ceará farmer's property is approximately 20 kilometers away from the nearest exploration block. Many of the blocks in the Potiguar Basin are currently in the exploration process, others, however, went to auction, but had no interested parties - therefore, the inclusion of an area in an exploration block is no guarantee that it will be effectively explored.

It often happens that an area already mapped and released for exploration by the ANP does not attract interest from investors due to the size of the deposit, the difficulty of extraction, the cost of setting up the operation or even the low quality of the oil, which would require more expenses in the refining process.

Even with confirmation that the liquid is oil, Sidrônio will not own the material, as the Federal Constitution determines that the subsoil and its riches, including oil and gas, are the property and monopoly of the Union.

However, Sidrônio may have a financial return if the area goes through a process of exploration and commercial production in the future. In this way, the land owner is entitled to receive a percentage.

But be careful: first the agency needs to analyze whether it is worth exploring the basin. Other similar findings were discarded because they were small accumulations. This financial transfer, guaranteed by law, can reach up to 1%, depending on several factors that will need to be evaluated.

Sidrônio Moreira, from Ceará, still faces difficulties in supplying animals and crops on the 48-hectare farm where he lives with his family. As he still doesn't know if he can drill a new well, he uses water from a pipeline for basic routine tasks, such as cooking.

However, caring for the animals on the farm and the plantation is almost impossible to carry out, comments Sidrônio. At the moment, Sidrônio is managing to keep some animals, but has not continued with his farming. "It's still the same. It hasn't rained anymore. The new pipeline is working, but only for household consumption", he points out.

The Hydraulic Works Superintendency (Sohidra) was approached by Sidrônio Moreira's family and informed that it would carry out a soil study in August to "identify the most suitable locations for carrying out new well drillings".

Even though we only used water for basic tasks, the service bill amounted to R$241.44 this July. In addition to the fixed bills for the land, he and his wife pay two loans from the bank - one of which was taken out to drill the first well in 2024.

Instead of water, a black liquid gushed from the ground, which the ANP would later confirm was oil. The find was a disappointment for the Ceará native. "Now in September I have to pay another installment of the loan, but I don't know how I'm going to pay it", he lamented.

Even with the difficulties, selling the land is not an option for the 63-year-old farmer. He received proposals even before confirmation from the ANP, but he discarded them all. What he wants at the moment is to have a quick response from the agency regarding the land assessment and continue with his planting and animal husbandry projects.