Auction results of the 3rd Cycle of the ANP’s Permanent Sharing Offer sees five blocks in the Pre-Salt area sold.

Oct. 22 – The 3rd Cycle of the Permanent Sharing Offer had seven pre-salt blocks for sale: Esmeralda and Ametista, in the Santos Basin; and Citrino, Itaimbezinho, Ônix, Larimar, and Jaspe, in the Campos Basin. A group of 15 companies are eligible to submit bids during the bidding process: Petrobras, 3R Petroleum, BP Energy, Chevron, CNOOC, Ecopetrol, Equinor, Karoon, Petrogal, Petronas, Prio, QatarEnergy, Shell, Sinopec, and TotalEnergies.

The Permanent Offer is currently the main bidding method for oil and natural gas exploration and production in Brazil. Unlike traditional bidding rounds, this format allows for the continuous offering of exploratory blocks and areas with marginal accumulations, in onshore or offshore basins. In the case of the Permanent Sharing Offer, blocks located within the pre-salt polygon and in other areas considered strategic by the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) are made available.

Under this regime, a portion of the oil and gas produced is allocated to the federal government—the so-called surplus oil percentage. The contracted company is entitled to a fraction of the production sufficient to recover its costs, while the remaining volume is divided between the federal government and the contracted company. The percentage of the surplus allocated to the federal government is defined by the bidders in their proposals for each block, always based on a minimum value established in the tender. The company or consortium that offers the highest percentage wins, securing the right to exploit the area.

The Australian oil company Karoon was the first winner of the 3rd Cycle of the Permanent Offer auction. The company won the Esmeralda block in the Santos Basin with a bid of 14.10% surplus oil. This was the only bid submitted for the block.

The consortium formed by CNOOC (70% and operation) and Sinopec (30%) won the Ametista block in the Santos Basin with a bid of 9% surplus oil. This was the only bid submitted for the area.

Petrobras outbid PRIO for the Citrino block in the Campos Basin. The state-owned company offered a 31.19% surplus oil percentage for the area. PRIO, meanwhile, submitted a bid of 22.42%.

The consortium formed by Petrobras (60% and operation) and Equinor (40%) won the Jaspe block with an offer of 32.85% of the surplus oil for the federal government. The proposal surpassed the bid submitted by another consortium, composed of Chevron and Qatar Energy. As a reminder, Petrobras had expressed interest in exercising its right of first refusal to operate the block.

Norwegian oil company Equinor won the Itaimbezinho block with an offer of 6.95% of the surplus oil for the federal government. This was the only bid submitted for the area.

The Ônix and Larimar blocks, also in the Campos Basin, did not receive any bids from the bidders participating in the auction.