(Welligence, 16.Dec.2022) — Brazil bid round alert! The first PSC Permanent Offer round was held today, with 4 of the 11 blocks on offer in the Santos and Campos basins awarded.
The involvement of large international companies is encouraging, but most of the acreage awarded was lower risk, including areas with extensions of existing discoveries. This reflects the sector reluctance to engage in high-risk exploration, and the underwhelming results of recent pre-salt exploration – the ANP – Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis may need to continue refining its terms.
Unsurprisingly, Petrobras picked up the most blocks with 3. The company took Norte de Brava by itself, partnered with Shell to take Sudoeste de Sagitario, and had to exercise its preferential rights to join the TotalEnergies/QatarEnergy/PETRONAS consortium which outbid it for Agua Marinha. The most notable winner was bp, which picked up Bumerangue, the highest risk award of the round.
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