Brazil has announced the winners of ANP's 11th bid round, the first licencing round in the country since December 2008, and awarded exploration licenses for six concession blocks in the Foz do Amazonas basin, one in the Barreirinhas basin, and one in the Potiguar basin, with the right to develop any commercial discoveries under the Brazilian concession regime. The concession agreements from the 11th licencing round are scheduled to be signed in August 2013.
In the Foz do Amazonas basin (SFZA-AP1), BP and Petrobras (70% operator and 30%, respectively) will explore the block FZA-M-59; the blocks FZA-M-125, FZA-M-127, FZA-M-57, FZA-M-86 and FZA-M-88 will be operated by Total (40%), in partnership with BP and Petrobras (30% each). BP will be the operator of the BAR-M-346 block in the Barreirinhas basin (50%, in partnership with Total), while Petrobras will be the operator of the POT-M-764 block in the Potiguar basin (40%, in partnership with BP with 40% and Petrogal wihh 20%).
In addition, Total has acquired a 25% working interest in three blocks (ES-M-669, ES-M-671 and ES-M-743) in the Espirito Santo basin as well as a 50% interest in one block (BAR-M-346) in Barreirinhas basin.
Moreover, Statoil was the highest bidder on 6 licences in Brazil's 11th licensing round in the Espirito Santo basin, of which four as operator (ES-M-598, ES-M-671, ES-673 and ES-M-743) and two as partner (ES-M-596 and ES-M-669).