Nov 21, 2019
The President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, signed Resolution No. 24, authorizing the 2020 17th Bidding Round for exploration and production of oil and natural gas by the National Agency of Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP).
In this round, in the Concession regime, 128 blocks will be offered in the Pará-Maranhão, Potiguar, Campos, Santos and Pelotas Maritime Sedimentary Basins, totaling 64.1 thousand km² of area.
The blocks selected are in the following sedimentary basins / sectors: Pará-Maranhão (SPAMA-AUP1 sector), Potiguar (SPOT-AP2 and SPOT-AUP2 sectors), Pelotas (SP-AP1, SP-AR1 and SP-AUP1 sectors) ), Campos (sectors SC-AUP2, SC-AP3 and SC-AP1) and Santos (sectors SS-AUP5, SS-AP4 and SS-AUP4).
The auction was authorized in 2018, with the publication of Resolution No. 10, which established the guidelines for the multiyear planning of bidding for blocks for exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the 2020-2021 biennium.
Exploration and production beyond 200 nautical miles
Another Resolution, No. 23, was also signed by the Presidency of the Republic. The document creates a Working Group (WG) that will deal with the exploration and production of oil and natural gas on the Brazilian Continental Shelf Extension, as announced by the Minister of Mines and Energy (MME), Bento Albuquerque, during the 16th Bidding Round.
Coordinated by the MME, the WG will evaluate international rules for exploration and production on the Continental Shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (about 370 kilometers from the coast), where today there is exclusivity for the economic use by the country. Currently, the main focus is on the near-pre-salt range, where, if findings are confirmed, there is an expectation of increasing the volume of Brazil’s oil and gas reserves by about 50%, currently estimated at 15, 9 billion barrels.
The WG will propose any necessary measures for its regulation and implementation, maintaining the attractiveness of the blocks offered there. There will also be immediate focus on the modeling of the bidding process and the 17th Bidding Round Contract, where 6 blocks will be offered, partially or totally, beyond 200 nautical miles, in the Santos Basin.
The group will be composed of members of the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic, the Brazilian Navy, Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy and the ANP.
Ministry of Mines and Energy
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