Petrobras and Chinese Companies Acquire Two Areas in the Mega Auction of Pre-Salt Surpluses

Of the R$ 106.5 Billion Signing Bonus, R$ 69.96 Billion Were Raised, R$ 62.8 Billion Paid by Petrobras and the Remainder by the Chinese

Petrobras and the Chinese were the stars of the onerous assignment mega auction, which lived up to its fame; the bidding round that had been called a mega auction due to the figures and numbers involved, which would make Brazil change tiers, becoming the fifth largest producer in the world, had the expected record collection but did not attract the attention of international oil companies except for the Chinese who acquired 10% of the Búzios field. Check also the results of the 3D research in the Búzios field!

According to the opening statement of the mega auction by the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, Brazil will soon produce 7 million barrels per day with the production from the offered areas and the country can no longer miss the opportunity to turn this immense pre-salt asset into wealth.

Décio Oddone, director-general of the ANP spoke emphasizing that “continuing to explore the pre-salt during an energy transition period would be renewing an option for poverty, something unforgivable for a country with millions in misery”.

The auction had the largest signing bonus and exploratory area offered; just to give an idea, areas will be offered with a total bonus of R$ 106.561 billion, that is, an amount 2.6 times greater than the sum of the bonuses from the other six sharing rounds, already including the one scheduled for tomorrow (11/7).

Petrobras confirmed the bids it would make for the Búzios and Itapu fields. The Búzios field, which had set the record for the highest bonus in history among the fields auctioned in production sharing rounds, was contracted without competition and without a premium; Petrobras (90%) and CNODC (5%) and CNOOC (5%) made a bid of R$ 68.19 billion, (R$ 61 billion from Petrobras and the other R$ 7 billion from the Chinese) for the asset and 23.24% of the profit oil through envelope No. 6.

The Itapu field will be 100% owned by Petrobras; the oil company was the only one to submit a proposal and will operate alone the smallest field of the auction, and has an FPSO planned for 2024. The value was contracted without a premium, with 18.15% of the profit oil and amounted to R$ 1.8 billion.

Perspectives

The ANP estimated that if all areas were sold, the auction of the surplus alone could generate demand for 17 platforms, enable production of up to 2 million barrels per day of oil, R$ 420 million in investments, and R$ 1.956 billion in taxes, numbers very close to those from all auctions held until 2016 or between 2017 and this year combined.

Petrobras already has platforms in the onerous assignment area. In September, production in the onerous assignment area was 478 thousand barrels of oil and gas per day. The Búzios field is already the second largest in oil production in Brazil.
So far, Petrobras has extracted 120.9 million barrels in the region, equivalent to only 2.42% of the 5 billion barrels it is entitled to, according to ANP data.

According to the Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, the unawarded areas in the mega auction of the onerous assignment should be re-bid in eight or nine months.
Let’s await the auction of the 6th round of sharing that will take place tomorrow, November 7.

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