Second Round of the Transfer of Rights will take place on Dec 17

The ANP will carry out the Second Round of Tenders for the Surplus Volumes of the Transfer of Rights, under the production sharing regime on Dec. 17. Two development areas will be offered in the Santos Basin: Atapu and Sépia. The public session will be held in Rio de Janeiro, in compliance with the health protocols required by the Covid-19 pandemic, and broadcast live on the ANP’s YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/ANPgovbr).

As in all rounds in the sharing regime, in this round, the criterion for choosing the winning companies will be the surplus oil offered to the Union. The tender notice establishes a minimum percentage of oil surplus.

The oil surplus is the portion of oil and/or natural gas production to be shared between the Federal Government and the contracted company, according to criteria defined in the contract and the percentage offered in the round. It is the total volume of production minus the royalties due and the cost in oil (a portion of the production corresponding to the company’s costs and investments in the operation of the field). At this point, sharing contracts differ from concession contracts, in which the company owns all the oil and/or natural gas that it may produce.

As the oil surplus is the criterion for choosing the winners, in this round (as in all sharing ones), the signing bonuses (amount paid in cash by companies that bid for areas in the bidding) are fixed and determined in the notice. Thus, before signing the contracts, the winning companies must pay the Union the value of the bonuses corresponding to the areas they auctioned in the round. This is yet another difference in relation to the concession regime, in which rounds the bonus offered, based on a minimum set out in the notice, is one of the criteria for selecting the winners.

Registered Companies

In all, 11 companies are qualified to bid for the areas that will be offered in the Second Round of Tenders for the Excess Volumes of the Transfer of Rights: Petrobras, Shell Brasil Petróleo SA., Chevron Brasil Óleo e Gás Ltda., Ecopetrol Óleo e Gás do Brasil Ltda. , Enauta Energia SA, Equinor Brasil Energia Ltd, ExxonMobil Exploration Brasil Ltd, Petrogal Brasil SA, Petronas Petróleo Brasil Ltd., TotalEnergies EP Brasil Ltd and QP Brasil Ltd (Qatar Petróleo).

In compliance with CNPE Resolution No. 09/2021, the notice of the Second Round of Tenders for the Surplus Volumes of the Transfer of Rights determines the mandatory participation of Petrobras, as operator, occurring with 30% for both areas on offer.