July 2013, Vol. 240 No. 7

Projects

Brazil Holds 11th Bidding Round

The Brazilian National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) held the 11th Bidding Round for oil and gas exploration blocks and auctioned 142 blocks (an exploration area of 100,300 sq-km), receiving a record US$1.4 billion in bids for exploration rights.

Some 30 bidders placed winning bids, including 12 Brazilian and 18 foreign companies from Australia (1), Bermuda (1), Canada (4), Colombia (2), Spain (1), United States (2), France (1) Guernsey (1), Norway (1), Portugal (1) and the United Kingdom (3).

The biggest signing bonus, with a winning bid of US$ 172 million, was offered by Total E&P Brasil, a Brazilian operator with a 40% stake in a consortium that also includes Petrobras (30%) and BP EOC (30%).

Ecopetrol S.A. reportedly submitted the highest bids for the POT-M-567 and FZA-M-320 blocks and a 50% interest in the highest bid for the CE-M-715 block, which it submitted with Chevron Brasil Ventures APS. The three blocks comprise an area of 1,862 sq-km in the Potiguar, Foz de Amazonas and Ceara offshore basins.