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The Pre-Salt Oil Auction Surprised With Chinese Giants Surpassing Petrobras and Winning More Than Half of the Barrels Sold. With Record Revenue of R$ 17 Billion, the Event Highlighted the Potential of Brazilian Pre-Salt and Raised Questions About the Future of the Energy Sector in the Country.
In a surprising move, the Brazilian oil market witnessed an unexpected turnaround. The recent auction of oil production from the pre-salt, one of Brazil’s most valuable resources, brought surprises that promise to change the energy landscape in the country.
The event, organized by the state company Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A. (PPSA) and held at B3, the São Paulo Stock Exchange, on Wednesday (31), raised a record amount, exceeding all expectations.
But what drew the most attention was the dominant participation of foreign companies, especially the Chinese giants, who surpassed the traditional Petrobras in several areas.
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According to official information, the auction raised an impressive R$ 17 billion, surpassing the initial estimate of R$ 15 billion. The Chinese companies Cnooc and PetroChina secured the largest share of the offered oil barrels, totaling 23 million of the 37.5 million barrels sold.
This volume will be extracted from the Mero and Búzios fields, located in the pre-salt of the Santos Basin, with production expected to start in 2025.
Tight Competition and Market Strategy
The PPSA, responsible for managing and overseeing the oil production under the production-sharing regime, organized the auction to sell the share of production that belongs to the federal government.
The auction rules stipulated that the proposals with the lowest discount compared to the reference price would win, which was the price of Brent plus a maximum discount of US$ 4.40 for the Mero lots and US$ 4.25 for the Búzios lot.
The Chinese secured their victory with lower discounts than expected, thus increasing the final revenue.
The event was attended by prominent figures, including the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, and the Chairman of Petrobras’s Board of Directors, Pietro Mendes.
The funds raised will be allocated to the Social Fund and are expected to enter public coffers between April 2025 and April 2026, as clarified by Silveira during the ceremony.
Results and Future Projections
According to the newspaper O Globo, the Chinese leadership in the auction was clear in the Mero lots, where the companies Cnooc and PetroChina secured two of the three offered lots.
In the first lot, Petrobras won with a discount of US$ 1.85 compared to Brent, while Cnooc and PetroChina offered higher discounts.
In the second lot, after a tight bidding competition, Cnooc won with a discount of US$ 1.59. In the third lot, PetroChina surpassed Petrobras with a discount of US$ 1.35.
In the Búzios field, Petrobras managed to win the lot of 2.5 million barrels with a discount of US$ 1.85, surpassing the competition from Cnooc and Prio.
The reduction of discounts compared to the maximum values established by the announcement resulted in record revenue, highlighted by the interim president of PPSA, Tabita Loureiro, as the highest ever recorded by the state company.
Expectations for the Future and Environmental Discussions
During the event, Alexandre Silveira also defended the exploration of new areas, such as the equatorial margin, which depends on authorization from Ibama for drilling wells off the coast of Amapá.
Silveira argued that the exploration could generate up to R$ 5 trillion in revenue by 2050, an amount that, according to him, cannot be ignored.
A total of ten companies participated in the auction, including giants like ExxonMobil, Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies.
This year’s revenue, which already totals R$ 3.85 billion by July, demonstrates the strength and potential of Brazilian pre-salt, a strategic asset that will continue to be explored in the coming years.
How do you assess the entry of foreign companies into Brazil’s oil market? Will this trend continue to grow in the coming years? Share your opinion in the comments!
Petrobras e uma empresa com gente vira lata, influenciado por politiqueiros vira latas. Explora danosamente o pressal descartando o gás associado. Importa em dólares derivados de seu petróleo refinado no exterior, fertilizantes nitrogenados e gás natural. Seu campo gigante de metano no pressal de Sergipe jaz esquecidos há 15 anos. O Brasil em seu todo esculhambou sua oportunidade e seu pressal. Subdesenvolvido e imoral.
A China em breve vai ser dona do Brasil,o Brasil vende suas riquezas pra china , minério agora ate o petróleo,vende muito barato e o brasileiro se quiser construir uma casa paga muito caro no ferro, todos os presentes que foram eleitos até hoje nenhum deles dão valor nas riquezas que o Brasil tem
A intenção é a longo prazo, acabar com a Petrobrás, assim como fizeram com a Cosipa e nossas siderúrgicas, hoje dominada pelos chineses. Hoje exportamos ferro a preço de **** e importamos aço dos chineses. Continuem elegendo estes políticos corruptos e vamos ser escravos dos chineses.