Government Keeps Auctions for Atapu and Sépia Pre-Salt Fields in Santos Basin for June 2021

According to the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, the auctions of excess oil from the Atapu and Sépia fields in the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin will be maintained and are scheduled to take place in June 2021. China: The World’s Largest Importer Takes Advantage of Oil Price Drop to Buy Cheaper Barrels and Ensure Its Stocks.

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The statement was made on Thursday night (2) during a teleconference with the participation of Petrobras President Roberto Castello Branco and Eletrobrás President Wilson Ferreira Júnior.

“We suspended the auctions [of 2020], but we continue with planning for Sépia and Atapu, in July 2021. This is something we’ve established as a priority and we feel no need to change. These are areas that have a natural attractiveness because they were fields that remained from the Onerous Assignment,” said Bento.

Amid the pandemic and economic slowdown, further aggravated in the oil sector by the price war initiated by Russia and Saudi Arabia, the government decided to postpone all energy auction programming for 2020.

The 17th round of block concessions from the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) and the electricity generation and transmission auctions, coordinated by the National Electric Energy Agency (Aneel), are postponed indefinitely.

The minister also commented that his department had a recent meeting with Shell and that the Anglo-Dutch company reaffirmed its commitment to maintaining its investment and production plans in Brazil, despite the current situation.

He also highlighted his concern for the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises that entered the oil and gas sector in the last auctions. “We must preserve these companies as they will be crucial when we return to recovery,” he declared.

Albuquerque also addressed Petrobras’ decision to reduce its production by about 200,000 barrels. He stated that the demand for oil has fallen and if the state company maintained its volumes, it would face difficulties storing such large quantities of the product.