Rio de Janeiro – Nine out of 11 companies accredited to take part in the auction of the Libra Field, in pre-salt area of the Santos Basin, have paid the auction guarantees. The announcement was made this Tuesday (8th) by the director of the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP), Helder Queiroz, during a seminar hosted by Grupo de Economia da Energia (GEE – the Energy Economy Group) of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, at the Convention Centre of the Rio de Janeiro Stock Exchange.
The deadline for payment of the guarantees was last Monday (7). Queiroz said, however, that all of the accredited companies will be eligible for the tender, seeing as “the guarantee may have been paid by the consortium leader.” He estimates that up to three consortia will compete for the first pre-salt layer area on October 21st. The guarantees paid amount to a combined R$ 156 million (US$ 70.4 million), according to the director. “I believe we may see a competitive auction.”
The guarantee payments made by the companies interested in the tender has caused the ANP director to express optimism regarding the auction’s success. He said “after yesterday, the chance of having only one single consortium interested has been ruled out.”
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
