The Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis or ANP) organized the 14th Bidding Round of blocks for exploration and production of oil and natural gas and a total of 37 blocks were awarded in the bidding round. The country raised about R$3.8bn (US$1.19bn) from the sale of the blocks. 20 companies from eight countries participated in the tender, 17 of which acquired blocks. The signing of contracts is now expected to occur until 31 January 2018. Exxon Mobil particularly vastly expanded its presence in Brazil with bids totalling R$3.8bn (about US$1.2bn) and was awarded a total of ten offshore blocks, of which six in consortia with the Brazilian state-held company Petrobras. The largest signature bonus reached R$2.24bn and was offered for the offshore block C-M-346 (Campos basin) to a consortium made Petrobras (50% - operator) and ExxonMobil (50%).
The total area awarded during the tender was 25,011 km2 and the acquired blocks are distributed in 16 sectors among eight sedimentary basins: Parnaíba, Potiguar, Santos, Recôncavo, Paraná, Espírito Santo, Sergipe-Alagoas and Campos. The ANP expects the selected companies to carry out investments worth at least R$845m, under the framework of the Minimum Exploratory Programme.
In addition to the 14th Bidding Round, the ANP will hold the 2nd and 3rd Pre-salt Rounds on 27 October 2017. As of today, the ten most productive wells in Brazil are located in the offshore pre-salt polygon, which already accounts for half of the Brazilian production.
Do you want to become an expert on renewable energies auctions?
Discover our very detailed and regularly updated RES auctions database with worldwide coverage and a technical focus backed by academic research.
With our renewable energies auctions service you will be able to monitor auctions at a global level. Its (expanding) scope notably includes all major G20 countries and offers an especially fine tracking on Europe and South America.