Brazil’s 15th Bidding Round had the largest signature bonus in history, R$ 8 billion

The 15th Bidding Round raised over R$ 8 billion in signature bonus, setting a record in collection among the rounds in the concession regime. The round will generate minimum investments of R$ 1.2 billion in the first phase of concession contracts alone (exploration phase).

Twenty-two offshore blocks were acquired out of the 47 offered, with an average goodwill of signature bonus of 621.91%. The round also had the block with the highest signature bonus offered in history, the C-M-789 offshore block, located in the SC-AP5 sector of the Campos Basin, which raised R$ 2.82 billion, with the highest goodwill of the round, of 6,839.01%. There were no offers for the onshore blocks offered.

"The auction surpassed all expectations. We had diversity of operators, geographical diversity and extraordinary bonuses", said the ANP director-general, Décio Oddone.

The director also highlighted the results in some basins. "We had the strengthening of Sergipe-Alagoas and the resumption of the Potiguar Basin as a pole of attraction for operators. But the main news is the resurgence of the Campos Basin, which has experienced a process of disruption in the offering of areas. There was a resumption in the 14th round, with high bonuses, and now the confirmation, with all the blocks acquired, showing that the basin has potential to be harnessed”, he said.

Authorities and business executives attended the public session, such as the chief minister of the General Secretariat of the Presidency, Wellington Moreira Franco, MME's secretary of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Renewable Fuels, Márcio Félix, and the director-general of ANP , Décio Oddone and the directors of the Agency Aurélio Amaral, Dirceu Amorelli, Felipe Kury and José Cesário Cecchi.

In total, 13 companies, from 11 countries, participated in the offshore stage. Of these, 12 acquired blocks (two domestic and 10 foreign). The signing of the contracts is expected to occur until November 30, 2018.

The total area acquired was of 16,400.30 km². The offshore blocks acquired are distributed in seven sectors of the sedimentary basins included (Santos, Potiguar, Campos, Ceará and Sergipe-Alagoas).

See below the blocks acquired in the 15th Round - Offshore:

*Operator

The blocks offered in the 15th Round were selected in high potential and new frontier basins, aiming to increase Brazilian reserves and production of oil and gas, expand knowledge of the sedimentary basins, decentralize the exploration investment, develop the national oil industry and secure domestic and foreign companies in the Country.

In addition to having offshore and onshore blocks in separate stages, among the innovations of this round also stands out: changes in the arbitration clause; the reoffering, at the end of the round, of blocks not acquired; and changes aimed at reducing bureaucracy, such as the exclusion of the requirement of notarization.

Upcoming rounds

The 4th Production-sharing Round is planned for June 7. It will offer areas located in the Pre-salt Polygon.

In addition, ANP starts this year the open acreage policy, which consists in the continuous supply of fields and blocks returned (or in the process of being returned) to the ANP, and of exploration blocks offered in previous rounds but not acquired. In the first moment, 846 blocks of 13 Brazilian sedimentary basins will be offered, totaling more than 285 thousand km².

 The calendar of rounds also includes two auctions for 2019: the 5th Production-sharing Round, with areas in the Pre-salt Polygon, and the 16th Bidding Round of Blocks, under the concession regime.