Government grants 59 areas for oil exploration for R$ 422 million

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In an auction without Petrobras’ participation, the government granted this Wednesday (13) 59 areas for oil exploration in the country, in an auction that raised R$ 422.4 million. Of the total collected, 98% was offered by Shell, Ecopetrol and Total for the concession of eight areas in the Santos Basin.

The auction had protests from environmental organizations against the offer of areas close to quilombola and fishing communities and in a scenario of warnings about the need for measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It was the third auction of the permanent supply model, which works as a kind of showcase for areas for oil exploration and production in the country. In this model, companies show interest in available areas, leading the ANP (National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels) to open auctions.

It should be the current model in the country in the coming years, after the end of the mega oil auctions held in the 2010s, which had areas with greater geological knowledge and, therefore, collected billions in bonuses.

For the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, the result of this Wednesday was “exceptional” and reinforces the success of the permanent offer model, criticized by the opposition for having lower signing bonuses than auctions with fewer offers.

In all, the ANP offered 379 areas in 14 exploratory sectors in seven Brazilian sedimentary basins, most of them on land, a type of operation that attracts the interest of small oil companies, such as the winners Petroborn, Petro-Victory and CE Engenharia.

These are areas with lower production potential than maritime areas and, therefore, with lower signature bonuses. The 51 land areas awarded in the auction generated a total collection of R$ 7.1 million.

Before the dispute, the director general of the ANP, Rodolfo Saboia, highlighted that part of the competitors would be small companies that developed with the process of selling Petrobras assets, which released fields already in production to the private sector.

In a press conference after the auction, he said that the result ensures greater diversity of actors in the sector and responds to the agency’s strategy to “make the right assets in the right hands”.

“With each passing year, we have more agents, we have more companies participating. And this is good, because it brings production growth and better prices for customers who need these inputs,” said Albuquerque after the competition.

The ten companies that bought these smaller areas committed to investing almost R$ 100 million in the projects.

Based in the United States but focused on operations in Brazil, Petro-Victory was the biggest winner, with 19 blocks in the Potiguar Basin. Origin Energia was the second largest, with 18, located in the Sergipe-Alagoas and Tucano basins, in Bahia.

The highest bids were made by France’s Total Energies and a consortium formed by Shell and Ecopetrol. The first committed to pay R$275 million for two concessions; the second offered R$ 140.2 million for six areas.

The concessions are outside the so-called pre-salt polygon, where the largest oil discoveries in the country are located, but still with potential for discoveries of deposits below the salt layer. The companies that won this Wednesday’s auction pledged to invest R$ 307.9 million in the region.

Shell and Ecopetrol had already worked in partnership in the last auction of oil areas held in the country, in 2021. The two won a block in the Santos Basin. Alone, Shell took four other areas in that competition, which was the worst ever held in the country since the opening of the sector, in 1997.

The ANP also foresees for this year an auction of the permanent offer of areas within the pre-salt polygon, which have different exploration contracts, called sharing contracts. This model guarantees the government presence in the investment decision and part of the oil produced.

According to the Minister of Mines and Energy, the expectation is that the competition will take place at the end of the year. The auction would, however, depend on expressions of interest by the oil companies for any of the 11 areas available at that time.

“As they are highly valued assets, top-tier assets for the whole world, we hope that it will be a successful auction”, said the director general of the ANP.

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