Brazil ANP auction attracts interest of major global oil companies

Brazil ANP auction attracts interest of major global oil companies

12/08 / 2015

Amid a declining scenario in oil prices and cuts in investment by the sector, several foreign oil companies should participate in the 13th Bidding Round for Exploratory Blocks. Brazil’s regulatory National Agency of Petroleum (ANP) will disclose the number of subscribers in the auction and it is expected that the list of participants will include some industry giants such as ExxonMobil and Anadarko, British BP and the Chinese CNOOC.

Newspaper sources say, that these four multinationals, as well as Colombian Ecopetrol and Canadian Geopark, requested enrollment in the auction.

According to ANP, 36 oil companies have expressed interest in participating in the round. The agency does not disclose names, but newspaper sources found that Norway’s Statoil, France’s Engie (ex¬GDF Suez), Portuguese Galp, Thai PTTEP, the Canadian Alvopetro, the Scottish Premier Oil, Spanish Cepsa and Brazilian Imetame, made the request for technical data on the blocks offered in the auction. All these aforementioned companies are operating in Brazil.

The official entry list is awaited with anticipation by the market. The Director General of ANP, Magda Chambriard, has reiterated that the number of people interested in the auction is positive and is “within expectations”,  considering the low scenario in oil prices. But the Brazilian Petroleum Institute (IBP), which ranked the model of the 13th Round concession agreement as “the worst ever”, fears for the attractiveness of the bid.

The market also looks forward to the direction of Petrobras, historically the leading figure in the ANP auctions. The director of exploration and production, Solange Guedes, said last week that the company is “evaluating opportunities”.

The number of companies that have signaled interest in participating, is higher than the oil companies in last bidding for exploratory blocks, the 12th Round, dedicated exclusively to areas on land. For comparison, 72 companies were qualified to participate in the 11th round and 26 companies for the 12th round, both held in 2013, in a more favorable moment in the market.

The ANP will offer, in all, 266 exploration blocks in ten different basins: the Amazon, Parnaíba, Potiguar and Reconcavo, on land;  Camamu¬Almada, Campos, Espírito Santo, Jacuípe, Pelotas and Sergipe¬Alagoas offshore.

Only in the offshore blocks, the agency estimates it will offer the market something around 48 billion barrels of oil in situ.

The highest estimated amount of resources “in situ” is in the Basin Sergipe¬-Alagoas, whose ten blocks totaling 20 billion barrels, followed by Pelotas, which totals 15 billion barrels in 51 areas located in the basin and included in the auction.