Brazil: 11th oil and gas round bags record investments

Brazil's 11th licensing round for the exploration and production of oil and gas blocks this week has set a new record, bagging approximately USD 1.91bn from bidders.

"We haven't seen anything like this before," Brazil's oil and gas secretary Marco Antônio Martins Almeida told local media.

The auction, which took place on Wednesday, is the country’s first tender of exploration concessions since 2008 and broke the record set by the 9^th round  in 2007 of USD 1.04bn in revenues, according to national oil watchdog ANP.

A total of 39 companies from 12 countries took place in the tender which assigned an area 100.3 km2 out of a total of 155.8 km2 on auction. Some 30 companies secured successful bids, including 12 national and 18 foreign companies from countries including: Australia (1), Bermuda (1), Canada (4), Colombia (2), Spain (1), US (2), France (1), Norway (1), Portugal (1), and UK (3).

State-owned oil major Petrobras, UK-based BP and France’s Total all won concession rights. UK oil and gas giant BG clinched 10 of the 12 offshore blocks it initially bid for, while Brazil’s OGX secured eight onshore and offshore blocks.

According to ANP, successful bidders will have a maximum of eight years to develop projects and 30 years to complete exploration activities.