Frequently Asked Questions

It is an administrative process that precedes authorization for assignment of an agreement (transfer of contractual rights and obligations between companies), as well as for mergers, spin-offs, consolidations, changes of operator, and replacement or exemption of performance bonds.

The assignment of agreements for exploration and production of oil and gas is provided for in art. 29 of Law No. 9,478 of August 6, 1997, and in art. 31 of Law No. 12,351 of December 22, 2010.

The assignment procedure shall be initiated and accompanied by the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence – SPL, pursuant to ANP Resolution No. 785 of May 17, 2019, and ANP Ordinance No. 126 of April 28, 2016, and shall follow the procedure described in the Assignment Procedure Manual, available at Procedure of Assignment.

The assignment process shall be initiated by the interested company through the Electronic Information System (SEI), according to the instructions in the Assignment Procedure Manual.

The page Assignment of Agreements contains instructions on the submission of documents, the procedural sequence, the list of documents required for opening the process and other requirements and information related to the assignment.

Assignees are qualified based on the rules of the most recently tender protocol approved by ANP’s Collegiate Board prior to filing the request for assignment, according to the object of the agreement for which the assignment authorization was requested.

Check the tender protocols most recently approved by ANP’s Collegiate Board in the menu Bidding Rounds.

You can also check the current version of the Open Acreage tender protocol when the assignment refers to assignment of agreements for onshore blocks or areas with marginal accumulations, in the menu Open Acreage.

Pursuant to ANP Resolution No. 785/2019, the term for ANP to express itself on the approval or denial of the request is ninety days of submission of all documents as established.

For production sharing agreements, ANP shall make a recommendation to the Federal Government, which shall decide on the request within sixty days of receipt of the recommendation.

Submission of non-compliant documents delays the assignment process; therefore, interested companies must comply with the Assignment Procedure Manual and the most recent tender protocol approved by ANP’s Collegiate Board prior to filing the request, available at Bidding Rounds.

The assignment is only effective upon signature of the respective addendum, which shall occur up to thirty days after the assignment is approved.

Pursuant to ANP Resolution No. 785/2019, the assignment shall be effective as of the execution of the addendum to the E&P agreement.

Assignment and production sharing agreements establish that concessionaires and contracted companies shall notify ANP about any amendments to their acts of incorporation (bylaws or articles of association) and changes in their management within thirty days of their filing with the applicable Commercial Registry.

In case of change in the corporate control or if the concessionaire or contracted company leaves the corporate group to which it originally belonged, ANP Resolution No. 785/2019 establishes that the notice to ANP shall be accompanied by the following documents:

I – charter or, in case of a joint-stock company, documents reflecting the change in corporate control;

II – organizational chart detailing the entire control chain of the corporate group, financial statements for the last fiscal year and technical summary, pursuant to the most recent tender protocol approved by ANP’s Collegiate Board prior to filing the notice; and

III – final decision of approval of acquisition of control, rendered by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, as provided by Law No. 12,529 of November 30, 2011, accompanied by the publication of the decision in the Federal Official Gazette, or of a justification for its failure to submit.

If the interest in the agreement is guaranteed by a performance bond and the change in corporate control or exit from the corporate group implies a breach of the corporate relationship between the guarantor and the guaranteed company, an assignment process for replacement of the performance bond shall be initiated pursuant to ANP Resolution No. 785/2019.

Assignment and production sharing agreements establish that concessionaires and contracted companies shall notify ANP about any amendments to their acts of incorporation (bylaws or articles of association) and changes in their management within thirty days of their filing with the applicable Commercial Registry.

In case of change in the corporate control or if the concessionaire or contracted company leaves the corporate group to which it originally belonged, ANP Resolution No. 785/2019 establishes that the notice to ANP shall be accompanied by the following documents:

I – charter or, in case of a joint-stock company, documents reflecting the change in corporate control;

II – organizational chart detailing the entire control chain of the corporate group, financial statements for the last fiscal year and technical summary, pursuant to the most recent tender protocol approved by ANP’s Collegiate Board prior to filing the notice; and

III – final decision of approval of acquisition of control, rendered by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense, as provided by Law No. 12,529 of November 30, 2011, accompanied by the publication of the decision in the Federal Official Gazette, or of a justification for its failure to submit.

If the interest in the agreement is guaranteed by a performance bond and the change in corporate control or exit from the corporate group implies a breach of the corporate relationship between the guarantor and the guaranteed company, an assignment process for replacement of the performance bond shall be initiated pursuant to ANP Resolution No. 785/2019.

Yes. After approval in Petrobras’s divestiture process, the companies shall carry out, before ANP, the qualification and agreement assignment process. Therefor, the interested companies shall observe the procedures and requirements published in the bidding rounds website in the menu Assignment of Agreements.

Clarification about the agreement assignment processes shall be requested by email at rodadas@anp.gov.br.

In order to optimize the service, we recommend that the requesting party should first look for the desired information in the Assignment Procedure Manual.

Information on the progress of pending assignment processes shall only be provided to accredited representatives of the assignor and assignee.

The Open Acreage Concession Modality is a new form of bidding process implemented by ANP to grant concession agreements for exploration or rehabilitation and production of oil and gas. It consists in continuous offers of exploration blocks and areas with marginal accumulations located in any onshore or offshore basins relinquished or pending relinquishment to ANP. The exception are blocks located in the pre-salt polygon, in the strategic areas, or in the Continental Shelf beyond 200 nautical miles, as well as those authorized to integrate the 17th and 18th Bidding Rounds.

Detailed information is provided in the bidding rounds website, in the menu Open Acreage.

No. The documents forwarded shall be reviewed by the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence – SPL and the application shall be judged by the Special Bidding Commission (CEL), which approval or denial shall be informed by email to all accredited representatives of the company, as well as published in the Federal Official Gazette.

Therefore, the bidder whose application is judged and approved by the CEL shall be deemed registered for any cycles of the Open Acreage Concession Modality.

There is no deadline. You may apply at any time. Nonetheless, the deadline for application in a public session for submission of bids already scheduled in a cycle of an ongoing Open Acreage shall be observed.

 Application shall be done once and on an individual basis by each interested company.

No. According to the tender protocol, the electronic application form shall be completed and the participation fee shall be paid only once and individually by each interested company.

The Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence – SPL reviews the documents sent by the interested company and submits them to the Special Bidding Commission (CEL). If the application is approved by the CEL, the interested company may participate in all Open Acreage cycles.

The participation fee is due only once and is mandatory for approval of the application to the Open Acreage, and it allows access to a sample of technical data, which is a limited set of data for each of the sectors under the Open Acreage Concession Modality. By completing the electronic application form and providing the proof of payment of the participation fee, the interested companies obtain access to the sample of data. The username and password to access the sample of technical data through the eBID system will be sent to the email of the primary accredited representative.

For more information on the payment of the participation fee and access to the technical data sample, check the page Technical Data Package.

The technical data package is a compilation of public technical data selected for the Open Acreage Concession Offer, composed of a regional dataset of the sectors or groups of sectors and its content shall be, when available, as provided for in the tender protocol.

The fee to access the technical data package is optional and its amount varies according to the sector or group of sectors. The data package can be acquired by the interested companies for better assessing the sector or group of sectors of interest and is released by accessing the eBID system or receiving it in person in ANP’s Exploration and Production Database (BDEP/ANP), in Urca.

For more information on the payment of the fee for accessing the technical data package, check the page Bidders’ submission.

Once the application form has been completed and the proof of payment of the participation fee has been submitted to ANP, the email with the username and password to access the eBID system shall be sent to the email of the bidder’s primary accredited representative.

 The email shall be sent by the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence – SPL after compliance with the terms of the tender protocol is verified.

Companies interested in participating in the Open Acreage Offer shall apply according to the current tender protocol of the Open Acreage, which includes: (i) filling of the electronic application form; (ii) payment of the participation fee; and (iii) submission of the application documents.

In order to the review the application, documents shall be forwarded to ANP as provided for in the tender protocol, and the proof of payment of the participation fee shall be sent to the email rodadas@anp.gov.br.

For more information on the current tender protocol of the Open Acreage Concession Offer, check the page Tender Protocol and models of the concession agreements.

No. Eligibility comprises review of documents to evidence legal, tax, and labor compliance, economic and financial capacity, and technical capacity, pursuant to criteria established in the tender protocol. ANP shall only review the documents of the winners of the public session for submission of bids in each cycle; therefore, it is not necessary to be eligible before the public session.

For more information on eligibility, check topic IV, Qualification Process.

The Open Acreage cycles are composed of all activities required for the public session for submission of bids for one or more sectors with a declaration of interest in the sectors accompanied by a bid bond. The cycles begin with the disclosure of the following dates by the Special Bidding Commission (CEL):

• a) date of the public session for submission of bids related to the initiated Open Acreage cycle;
• b) deadline for application and payment of the participation fee by companies interested in participating in such public session in the Open Acreage Concession Offer;
• c) deadline for inclusion of new sectors in the Open Acreage cycle initiated, as of the provision of bid bonds accompanied by a declaration of interest in the sectors;
• d) deadline for provision of additional bid bonds accompanied by declarations of interest in the sectors already indicated and which shall be offered in such public session; and
• e) dates related to eligibility of the winners, award of the object, homologation of the bidding process, and execution of the concession agreements.

All bidders enrolled may participate in the Open Acreage cycle initiated. Other companies that did not apply to the Open Acreage Concession Offer and are interested in participating in the cycle disclosed shall observe the deadline set forth in item (b).

The areas available for declaration of the sectors of interest are in Annex I of the Open Acreage tender protocol, available at the bidding rounds page in the menu Open Acreage.

Yes. All bidders whose application was approved by the CEL can submit their declaration of interest in the sectors accompanied by a bid bond, indicating the sector(s) of interest to ANP.

The declaration of interest in the sectors accompanied by a bid bond shall be submitted in a sealed envelope with the identification as described in the tender protocol, exclusively shipped or delivered in the filing service of ANP’s Main Office, to the attention of the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence – SPL.

Yes. The CEL shall disclose the sectors offered for which declarations of the sectors of interest have been submitted in the ANP’s bidding rounds page, in the menu of the open Open Acreage cycle, on a date defined in the schedule for each cycle.

The CEL shall only inform the sectors of interest, as the bidder only provides such information, according to the tender protocol.

No. The CEL shall not disclose the name of the bidder.

The ANP regularly promotes technical events in order to provide those interested in this type of bidding with relevant information about the oil potential of the areas available for the Open Acreage.

As it is a continuous bidding modality, the Open Acreage does not have the Technical, Environmental and Legal-fiscal seminars commonly held for bidding rounds under the concession or production sharing regime. Therefore, these events are intended to present technical information about the exploratory blocks and areas with marginal accumulations on offer, their oil potential and other legal aspects of the bidding process.

• 2nd Technical Workshop on Oil Potential of Exploratory Blocks in the Open Acreage

  The Technical Workshop presented the oil potential of the exploratory blocks available in the Open Acreage.

  Check out the presentations made during the 2nd Technical Workshop.

  Date of completion: 08/23/2021

  Hours: 2:30 pm to 4:30 pm

  Location: online

  Schedule

  2:30 pm – Opening – Rafael Bastos, Director of the Department of Oil and Natural Gas Exploration and Production Policy at the MME and Dirceu Amorelli, ANP Director

  2:45 pm – Oil Potential of the Areas on Offer in the Open Acreage - Ronan Magalhães Ávila, Deputy Superintendent of SAG

  3:35 pm – Legal Requirements, Admission and Open Acreage Cycles- Josie Quintella, Deputy Superintendent of SPL

  4:10 pm – Question and Answer Session

  4:30 pm – Closing

• 1st Technical Workshop on areas in Open Acreage

  The Technical Workshop presented the oil potential of exploratory blocks and marginal fields available in the Open Acreage.

  Check out the presentations made during the 1st Technical Workshop..

  Date of completion: 03/29/2019

  Hours: 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm

  Location: ANP Central Office Auditorium - Av. Rio Branco, 65, 13th floor, Rio de Janeiro/RJ.

  Schedule

  13h - Reception of those registered for the technical workshop

  1:30 pm - Opening - Felipe Kury, ANP Director

  1:40 pm - New Blocks on offer - Ronan Magalhães Ávila (SAG)

  2:30 pm - Areas with marginal accumulations on offer - Filipe Nathan de Souza Machado (SDP)

  3 pm - Closing

Qualification of companies is a requirement for bidders participating in ANP’s bidding rounds and for companies participating in agreement assignment processes. It is a mandatory stage prior to the execution of agreements for exploration and production of oil and gas.

The qualification process includes analysis of documents of interested companies for purposes of proof of:

• a) legal, tax, and labor compliance;
• b) economic and financial capacity; and
• c) technical capacity.

The qualification process is conducted by the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence – SPL.

The qualification process, as provided for in ANP’s Internal Regulations, is carried out in the following cases:

(i) participation of bidders in ANP’s bidding rounds; or

(ii) participation of assignees in a process for assignment of agreements for exploration and production of oil and gas.

Therefore, only companies participating in the processes listed above, which will consequently be signatories to agreements for exploration and production of oil and gas, may qualify.

The companies participating in bidding rounds shall observe the eligibility requirements provided for in the tender protocol governing the round in which they are participating.

The companies participating in agreement assignment processes shall observe the eligibility requirements provided for in the tender protocol most recently approved by ANP’s Collegiate Board prior to filing the request for assignment, according to the object of the agreement for which the assignment authorization was requested.

Check the most recent tender protocols approved by ANS’s Collegiate Board in the menu Bidding Rounds.

You can also check the current version of the Open Acreage tender protocol when the assignment refers to assignment agreements for onshore blocks or areas with marginal accumulations.

Companies participating in bidding rounds shall observe the procedures detailed in the tender protocol.

Interested companies may ask any questions about eligibility requirements provided for in the tender protocol by sending an email to rodadas@anp.gov.br.

Companies participating in an agreement assignment process shall qualify according to the procedure published in the bidding rounds website in the menu Assignment of Agreements. The procedure refers to the most recent tender protocol approved by ANP’s Collegiate Board prior to filing the request for assignment.

Interested companies may ask any questions about eligibility requirements provided for in the tender protocol by sending an email to rodadas@anp.gov.br.

Yes. After approval in Petrobras’s divestiture process, the companies shall carry out, before ANP, the qualification and agreement assignment process. Therefor, the interested companies shall observe the procedures and requirements published in the bidding rounds website in the menu Assignment of Agreements.

It is not possible to obtain prior qualification unrelated to the participation in a bidding round or in an ongoing E&P agreement assignment process in ANP.

Any interested companies that do not fall under the eligibility cases set forth may review the requirements provided for in the tender protocol and ask any questions regarding its content by sending an email to rodadas@anp.gov.br.

Yes. Eligibility is valid for a specific bidding round or assignment of E&P agreements and cannot be used in other bidding rounds or assignment of E&P agreements.

Pursuant to art. 28 of ANP Resolution No. 18/2015, the documents sent for application and eligibility support specific and separate administrative processes, which constitutes the company’s registration with ANP. Valid documents included in such registration, according to rules defined in the tender protocol, may be used for application and qualification for future bidding rounds or E&P agreement assignment processes upon request of the interested company.

It is possible, therefore, to use valid documents included in the registration of the company; however, this does not characterize a pre-application or pre-qualification with ANP.

For purposes of E&P tender protocols, a corporate group is the group of legal entities forming part of a formal group or bound by a direct or indirect common control relationship.

The organizational chart of the corporate group is a document produced by the interested company that must detail the entire chain of control of its corporate group, including the respective percentage of the voting quotas or shares of each legal entity forming part of such group, as well as of each individual controlling such legal entities.

Yes. Any such conditions shall be satisfied in advance, such as joint signatures of officers, express authorization of the partners and of the Board of Directors for certain acts, including for execution of agreements, among other conditions set forth in the Articles of Association/Bylaws that may limit or prevent the participation of the interested company in the bidding rounds and in the E&P agreement assignment processes, as well as the exercise of the powers by its legal representatives/managers.

The performance bond is a document through which a legal entity, parent company (direct or indirect) or head office, fully secures the contractual obligations undertaken by the signatory member of its corporate group.

The performance bond shall be required from the bidder or assignee, exclusively as an operator, when it has failed to evidence its own experience in exploration and production of oil and gas, being technically qualified by the experience of its corporate group.

The performance bond shall be provided as set forth in the tender protocol and shall be accompanied by:

(i) corporate documents of the company that will provide the guarantee; and

(ii) organizational chart demonstrating the relationship between the legal entity providing the performance guarantee and the signatory of the E&P agreement.

Clarification about the qualification processes shall be requested by email at rodadas@anp.gov.br.

In order to optimize the service, we recommend that the requesting party should first look for the desired information in the tender protocol.

Information on the progress of pending qualification processes shall only be provided to accredited representatives.

The bidding rounds are auctions through which the Federal Government grants the right to explore and produce (E&P) oil and natural gas in Brazil by executing agreements under the concession or production sharing regime, pursuant to Law No. 9,478 of August 6, 1997.

E&P activities are developed in the exploration blocks or areas subject to the bidding rounds, as authorized by the National Council for Energy Policy – CNPE.

Learn about the differences between the concession and production sharing regimes in the menu About the Bidding Rounds.

The rules to participate in each bidding round are defined in tender protocols.  The form of concession or production sharing agreement is an integral part of the tender protocol.

The bidding process is promoted and coordinated, during its internal phase, by the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence (SPL) and carried out, during its external phase, by a Special Bidding Commission (CEL) designated by ANP’s Collegiate Board. CEL’s internal regulations and the ordinances of its organization for each bidding round are available at Laws and Regulations (the files are in Portuguese).

ANP’s bidding rounds are based on art. 177 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988, on Law No. 9,478 of August 6, 1997, and on Law No. 12,351 of December 22, 2010.

The procedures adopted in bidding processes for exploration blocks and areas with marginal accumulations for concession of the activities of exploration and production of oil and gas are defined in ANP Resolution No. 18 of March 18, 2015.

The procedures adopted in bidding processes for exploration blocks in the pre-salt polygon and in strategic areas for exploration and production of oil and gas under the production sharing regime are defined in ANP Resolution No. 24 of June 28, 2013.

As provided for in the Brazilian laws and regulations, the National Council for Energy Policy – CNPE is responsible for authorizing the bidding rounds and defining the exploration blocks or areas that will be offered during the bidding procedures.

Once the next bidding round has been authorized, ANP publishes the draft tender protocol and the schedule of the bidding round in the menu Bidding Rounds. It is also possible to follow up on the rounds expected by the CNPE in the pluriannual planning.

For Open Acreage bidding rounds, the schedule for each cycle is approved by the Special Bidding Commission (CEL). For more details on the Open Acreage cycles, check topic II in this page.

Companies participating in bidding rounds shall observe the procedures detailed in the tender protocol. Interested companies may ask any questions about eligibility requirements provided for in the tender protocol by sending an email to rodadas@anp.gov.br.

For more information on eligibility, check topic IV, Qualification Process.

Interested parties shall contact the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence – SPL by sending an email to rodadas@anp.gov.br, informing the name of the block/field or the number of the agreement/process which they wish to access.

SPL shall evaluate the possibility to meet the request according to the level of confidentiality of the documents requested. Then, the procedure for digital access to the documents shall be informed.

Exceptionally, it will only be possible to request access to the documents in person, which requires payment of a Federal Government Payment Form (GRU) and scheduling in advance.

ANP participates in the project National Electronic Process (PEN) and implemented the Electronic Information System (SEI) to manage electronic processes. One of its main characteristics is the reduced use of paper as physical support for institutional documents and sharing of information with update and communication of new events in real time. This initiative promotes time and resource savings and offers greater security, transparency, and expedition in the process arrangements.

Documents to support processes regarding ANP’s bidding rounds and assignments of E&P agreements are submitted through the SEI. The interested party may file documents electronically, check processes, and monitor their progress in the electronic system.

The first step to use the SEI is to register as an external user. This registration is intended for individuals participating in administrative process with ANP, regardless of the relationship with a certain legal entity.

To register with ANP’s SEI, access the page Electronic Process (SEI). The auxiliary instrument for registration is the External User Manual, also available on the website. These pages are in Portuguese.

Registration will allow the electronic filing of documents; however, physical filing will continue and ANP’s Protocol units will continue to operate on a regular basis.

Open Acreage: Manual for filing documents in the SEI for participating in the Open Acreage (in Portuguese).

Assignment of Agreements: Assignment Procedure Manual.

Bidding round: SEI document application manual for the ongoing round.

Interested parties shall contact the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence – SPL by sending an email to rodadas@anp.gov.br, informing the name of the block/field or the number of the agreement/process which they wish to access.

SPL shall evaluate the possibility to meet the request, according to the level of confidentiality of the documents requested. Then, the procedure for digital access to the documents shall be informed.

Exceptionally, it will be possible to request access to the documents in person, which requires payment of a Federal Government Payment Form (GRU) and scheduling in advance.