Brazil’s Petroleum Agency Lists Thirteen Companies Qualified to Bid at Upcoming Auction

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The blocks of Aram, Bumerangue, Cruzeiro do Sul, Sudoeste
de Sagitário and Norte de Brava, distributed in the Santos and Campos basins, will be auctioned.

The list of companies was published on Thursday, October 3rd, in the Federal Gazette. Four more companies showed interest in taking part in the round and will have their qualifications reviewed on the 14th of this month.

As a result, this 6th Round may have the largest number of companies qualified in bids under the sharing scheme.

The eligible companies are: BP Energy do Brasil Ltda; Chevron Brasil Óleo e Gás Ltda; CNODC Brasil Petróleo e Gás Ltda; CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda; Ecopetrol Óleo e Gás do Brasil Ltda; ExxonMobil Exploração Brasil Ltda; Murphy Exploration & Production Company; Petrobras; Petronas Petróleo Brasil Ltda; QPI Brasil Petróleo Ltda; Repsol Sinopec Brasil S.A; Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda and Wintershall DEA do Brasil Exploração e Produção Ltda.

Surplus

On the preceding day, November 6th, the Bidding Round for the Transfer of Surplus Rights will be held, a direct contracting system of areas of the federal government ceded to Petrobras. Law No. 12.276/2010 granted the state-owned company the right to extract up to 5 billion barrels of oil equivalent in these non-contracted areas, located in the deep water pre-salt.

Considering the existence of volumes greater than this, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) is authorized to auction this surplus under the sharing system. The development areas of Atapu, Búzios, ltapu, and Sépia in the Santos Basin will be offered.

“The difference between this round and the other auctions under the production sharing regime is that areas already under development will be offered, without exploratory risk.”

“In the traditional sharing rounds, blocks are offered, i.e., areas not yet explored, in which the winning companies will need to conduct studies to determine whether or not there is oil and/or gas in commercial amounts (the so-called exploration phase),” explained the ANP in a statement released to the press.

Further information on the rounds can be obtained at the ANP website.

Source: Agência Brasil