The 17th round of the ANP will offer 128 oil and gas exploration blocks in the Campos, Santos, Pelotas, Potiguar and Pará-Maranhão basins

The Working Group with an exploration bias for gas and oil, set up by determination of the National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE), opined on the feasibility of offering areas related to exploration for oil and gas, in addition to 200 nautical miles in the 17th bidding round of the National Petroleum Agency (ANP), scheduled for the second half.

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This information was supplied by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, during the signing ceremony for the contracts for areas awarded in the 16th round and in the ANP's permanent offer.

“The report of the Working Group formed by resolution of the CNPE decided on the feasibility of bidding for exploratory blocks beyond the limits of 200 nautical miles”, said Bento Albuquerque

The Working Group was structured by the government on January 10th and had the participation of members of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), ANP, Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Civil House.

The focus of the offer of areas at the moment is the strip close to the pre-salt beyond 200 nautical miles, where, in case discoveries are confirmed, there are prospects of increasing the volume of oil and gas reserves in Brazil by about 50%, which today are estimated at 15,9 billion barrels.

The 17th ANP Concession Round will make available 128 blocks in the Campos, Santos, Pelotas, Potiguar and Pará-Maranhão basins, totaling an area of ​​64,1 km² – which does not include assets outside the Brazilian Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE).

More than half of the selected areas are located in the Pelotas Basin, where 74 blocks will be offered, compared to 17 in Santos, 15 in Campos, 14 in the Potiguar Basin and eight in Pará-Maranhão. Today, Pelotas has only four areas under concession in the region – all operated by Petrobras and with an exploratory period suspended by the ANP.

The inclusion of blocks outside the EEZ – the so-called “pre-salt mirror”, beyond 200 nautical miles (370 km) – was authorized by the CNPE in November, but the government created a WG to study and format the details of the process and select the areas that will be offered.

The ZEE WG is formed by representatives of the MME, ANP, the Brazilian Navy and the Ministries of Economy, Foreign Affairs and Chief of Staff.

The MME plans to hold the two exploratory block auctions at the end of 2020, possibly between the months of November and December, but industry sources fear that deadlines could become tight with the postponement.