Petrobras secured two blocks, including the high-interest Azurita field in the Campos Basin and Cruzeiro do Sul in the Santos Basin, offering the state 30 percent and 15.27 percent of production respectively against minimum thresholds of 12.51 percent and 14.13 percent. Norway’s Equinor won two blocks—Rubí individually and Rodocrosita in partnership with Portugal’s Galp—while Brazil’s PRIO took Magnetita and Hematita. A consortium of China’s CNOOC and Sinopec captured the Jade block with an 18.20 percent production share.
Despite 19 registered companies including Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, Chevron, Repsol and Ecopetrol, none of the seven awarded blocks faced competitive bidding. Six blocks received no offers. The pre-salt currently accounts for 82.6 percent of Brazil’s six million barrels daily oil and gas output recorded in August, with three offered areas near producing fields and six containing drilled wells confirming discoveries.
The ANP simultaneously held a second auction offering 313 blocks outside the pre-salt across nine sedimentary basins, with 46 companies registered primarily for mature onshore wells. Environmental groups protested both rounds, with Observatorio del Clima arguing the auctions ignore climate commitments, while Arayara claimed some onshore areas overlap indigenous territories and environmental reserves.
Government officials signaled plans to open new exploration frontiers to replenish reserves ahead of anticipated 2030 production decline. Energy Ministry Secretary Renato Dutra cited focus on the Equatorial Margin off the Amazon delta, where Petrobras recently announced discoveries, and the unexploited Pelotas Basin offshore southern Brazil. Authorities also indicated readiness to permit hydraulic fracturing pending judicial review, as Brazil seeks to maintain production growth through 5.3 million barrels daily by decade’s end.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
