Brazil’s 13th licensing round set to begin

Brazil’s 13th licensing round will be held Wednesday at the Windsor Barra Hotel in Rio de Janeiro. Thirty-seven companies have qualified to take part in the bidding for new offshore and onshore exploration acreage in Brazil.

Among the companies given the green light, there are 22 international oil firms and 15 Brazilian ones. According to Brazil’s newspaper O’Globo, the number of 37 companies is relatively low, when compared to the 11th licensing round in 2013 which attracted 64 oil firms.

O’Globo further writes, citing unnamed experts, that of the main complaints of the oil companies that want to operate in Brazil is the high local content index. According to ANP, in the exploration phase in both shallow and deep water blocks, the minimum local content rate is 37% and maximum 55%. During development, the minimum percentage is 55% and maximum 65%.

According to the ANP, Brazil’s oil and gas regulator, the companies taking part in today’s bidding round come from seventeen different countries: Angola, Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, United States, France, Holland, Japan, Norway, Panama, Portugal, United Kingdom, Russia and Thailand.

Aside from the ever-present, local oil giant Petrobras, there are some well know international names interested in obtaining new Brazilian acreage, most notably, ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Statoil, Anadarko, CNOOC, Rosneft, PTTEP, and Ecopetrol.

The 13th bidding round for offshore and onshore exploration blocks in Brazil will offer 266 blocks in 22 sectors, spread across 125.000 km2 in twelve states. The bidding is scheduled to start on October 7, 2015.

The ANP will offer seven onshore blocks in the Amazonas basin and 22 in Parnaíba. In mature basins, 71 blocks will be included in the Potiguar Basin and 85 in the Reconcavo basin. A total number of 185 onshore blocks will be available for bidding.

Offshore, the bidding round will offer areas in basins off Brazil’s eastern shore. In the northeast, ANP will offer 10 blocks in the Sergipe-Alagoas basin, four in the Jacuípe and nine in the Camamu-Almada basins respectively.

In the southeast region, seven blocks will be put up for grabs in the Espirito Santo Basin and three in the Campos Basin.

Furthermore, in the south, the licensing round will offer 51 blocks in the Pelotas Basin. In total, 84 offshore blocks will be offered to interested companies.

Offshore Energy Today staff