Rio de Janeiro – The 6th Production Sharing Bidding Round of Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP)
saw only one block auctioned off, out of five blocks in the pre-salt polygon. The subscription bonus was BRL 5 billion. The auction took place this Thursday (7).
Petrobras had signaled its preference for three different blocks, but only made on bid, in a consortium with CNODC, of China, with the Brazilian state-run company holding 80% and the latter holding 20%. The auctioned block was Aram, in the Santos Basin, deemed the most valuable of the lot.
The auction was won with the minimum bid, with a surplus oil rate of 29.96%. In production sharing auctions, this rate is the criterion based on which bids are analyzed, since contracts provide that part of the output must be shared with the federal government.
ANP president Décio Oddone said Petrobras’ not bidding for other blocks came as a surprise. “We were expecting contracts for these three areas. Yes, I am surprised.” Oddone said the potential of the auctioned block alone exceeds that of the other four non-auctioned blocks.
The bidding came a day after another auction, which saw only two out of four pre-salt blocks tendered, both to Petrobras, one of which with 10% retained by two Chinese state-run firms.
*With information from the ANBA Newsroom. Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
