April 6 (agenciabrasil) The next auction of pre-salt oil exploration blocks will offer 23 areas, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), the sector’s regulatory body, announced this Monday (6).
The confirmation was made through an update to the Permanent Production Sharing Offer (OPP) notice. Eight blocks were already included in the bidding process, and on the 27th, the ANP board added 15 more. The new offer was validated by the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) before the publication of the notice.
All areas are located in the so-called Pre-Salt Polygon, off the coast of the Southeast region, with eight in the Campos Basin and 13 in the Santos Basin (see the list at the end of the report).
According to the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels), all exploratory blocks have a favorable opinion regarding environmental viability, issued by the competent bodies, as well as a joint statement from the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA).
With the publication of the tender notice for the 23 areas, the blocks are eligible to receive declarations of interest from oil companies, accompanied by their respective bid guarantees.
With the declaration of interest from one or more registered companies in one or more blocks of the tender notice, the ANP may set the auction date.
Permanent Offer
The Permanent Offer is the main bidding modality for oil and natural gas exploration and production in Brazil. The ANP explains that, unlike traditional rounds, this system allows for the continuous offering of exploratory blocks.
Thus, over time, companies have the freedom to study the technical data of the areas and submit bids when they deem it most appropriate, without depending on rigid deadlines or specific bidding cycles.
“This flexibility has made the Permanent Offer an essential instrument for fostering the competitiveness and attractiveness of the sector in Brazil,” argues the regulatory agency.
Sharing and Concession
Permanent offers can be based on the concession or sharing model. The sharing model is adopted in the pre-salt layer, where the largest known oil reserves in the country are located – and in other areas considered strategic by the National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE), a multi-ministerial advisory body to the Presidency of the Republic.
In the sharing regime, the company or consortium that wins the auction pays a fixed signing bonus. Therefore, it is not this bonus that determines the winner of the auction, but rather the share of surplus production that the agent offers to the Union. Each block has a minimum required percentage.
This surplus that must be shared with the Union can be understood as the profit from production after the payment of costs.
In addition, the State receives taxes, royalties, and special participation (in the case of large production fields).
Under the production-sharing regime, the Union’s interests are represented by the state-owned company Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA), based in Rio de Janeiro and linked to the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME). PPSA is responsible for auctioning off the oil delivered by oil companies to the Union.
In contracts under the concession regime, used in other exploratory areas, the winner is the company or consortium that pays the highest amount, in signature bonuses, for the right to explore for oil.
Past Rounds
The ANP has already held three permanent production-sharing offers: 2022, 2023, and 2025. In the last auction, five of the seven blocks offered were auctioned off, and the premium reached 251.63%.
The country has already had five Permanent Offer cycles under the concession regime: 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, and 2025.
See the list of blocks that will be offered:
Santos Basin: Agate, Amazonite, Aragonite, Chalcedony, Cerussite, Southern Cross, Garnet, Jade, Malachite, Opal, Quartz, Rhodochrosite, Ruby, East Sapphire, West Sapphire
Campos Basin: Azurite, Calcite, Hematite, Larimar, Magnetite, Onyx, Siderite, Tourmaline
Brazil Energy Insight 
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