6th Production Sharing Round bids block in Santos Basin for R$ 5.05 billion

The 6th Production Sharing Bidding Round, held today (November 7) by ANP, bid the block Aram in the Santos Basin. The Round raised R$ 5.05 billion in signature bonus and R$ 278 million in planned investments in the first phase of the contract alone (exploration phase). 

The Minister of Mines and Energy, Bento Albuquerque, highlighted that the result was positive for Brazil. “We have closed a successful cycle of bidding rounds. We hope these areas can be offered again and generate the wealth for which they have potential”, he said. 

According to ANP’s Director-General, Décio Odonne, the fact that four blocks were not sold out “does not detract from the overall work, but was a surprise”. “We started a cycle in 2017 in which there was a gigantic portfolio build in Brazil by companies that were not operating pre-salt due to legal restrictions. Once these restrictions were lifted and other regulatory conditions were given, there was a boom of interest in these pre-salt areas. What was contracted throughout this bidding rounds cycle already guarantees the resumption of the industry, and the expected collection and investments do not change significantly. We are moving from the greatest crisis to the greatest acceleration our industry has ever experienced”, he said. 

Oddone also noted that Petrobras exercised its preemptive right (provided by law for production sharing rounds) to be the operator in the areas of Aram, Sudoeste de Sagitário and Norte de Brava, but only submitted a bid for the first. "That surprised. It was an unexpected and unprecedented fact”, he said. 

He also stated that it is possible to see a change of priority by the companies. “With a very large set of exploration blocks, now is the time for them to get results from these investments they have made, drill wells, find oil and start production. This is natural in any basin in the world”. 

Also present at the public session were the directors of ANP Amorelli Júnior, Aurélio Amaral, Felipe Kury and José Cesário Cecchi. 

See below the results:

*Operadora

In the bidding rounds held under the production sharing regime, the signature bonus is fixed and the companies that offer the highest percentage of profit oil to the Federal State win. The profit oil is the remaining portion of the production after deducting the volumes corresponding to the company's costs and investments in the field operation and due royalties.