January 29, 2020
The federal government made a change to the re-bidding of the surplus of the Transfer of Rights assignment of Sépia and Atapu, in the Santos Basin pre-salt, and Pre-Salt Petroleum (PPSA) will be responsible for negotiating and defining with Petrobras the value of the indemnity that will be charged to possible partners for the investments already made in the areas. The decision was published by the Ministry of Mines and Energy on Wednesday in the Official Gazette signed by the executive secretary of the portfolio, Marisete Pereira.
The internal evaluation is that the measure eliminates one of the great risks raised by oil companies in the auction of the surplus of the Transfer of Rights, since the companies had to negotiate with Petrobras the values without having predictability of the volume of resources that they would need to have for the payment. The consultancy WoodMac estimated that compensation for the original four areas of the auction – Atapu, Búzios, ltapu and Sépia – could reach US $ 20 billion.
The areas of Sépia and Atapu received no bids. The Búzios and Itapu fields, ended up with Petrobras (90%) and CNOOC (5%) and CNODC (5%), respectively. The value of the signature bonus, which for the four areas was around R$ 106 billion, and the indemnities that should be paid to Petrobras for the investments already made were pointed out by many as inhibitors to the bidding.
A working group will be set up between Petrobras and PPSA and a plan will be established so that Petrobras data is passed on to PPSA. The two companies must reach an agreement on the participation of the Union and companies in the project. The group should meet every 30 days with ANP and MME to present studies, including with regard to data, information, interpretations and static and dynamic reservoir models.
The final agreement will have to be approved by the ANP, which may request changes and information.
The government does not work with a deadline for completing the process. The internal evaluation is that first it will be necessary to wait for Petrobras to deliver the data so that all the schedules are defined.
The new strategy may play the role of the Transfer of Rights auction for 2021, since after defining the indemnity, the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) will need to approve the new bidding model, which will need to be sanctioned by the Federal Court of Accounts within 150 days after the CNPE approval. After that, the ANP needs another four months to comply with the auction procedure.
Source: epbr
Brazil Energy Insight 
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