Fifteen Oil Majors Interested In Brazil’s Round 3 Pre-Salt Auction

Fifteen companies have pre-registered for Brazil’s third auction of oil exploration rights in the pre-salt area while ten companies have expressed interest in the second round, oil regulator ANP said on the 11^th September.

ANP said that all the companies were oil majors.

The two auctions will take place on the 27^th October.

Through production sharing contracts, firms will be able to bid on eight blocks in the Santos and Campos basins in the pre-salt area, where hydrocarbons are trapped under thick layers of salt beneath the ocean floor.

The fields are considered among Brazil’s most prized energy assets. Those already under production are showing above-average productivity.

The companies had a deadline of the 8^th September to fill out an initial form expressing interest in the bidding process, but will not officially be considered registered until they have been approved by a committee. No more companies can sign up to participate.

Last month, oil regulator ANP published details of how the auction will work, including bidding arrangements for the three prospects for which state-controlled oil-giant Petroleo Brasileiro exercised its preferential rights.