The 1st Cycle of the Permanent Production Sharing Offer (OPP), made today (16) by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), raised a total of R$ 916.252 million in signature bonuses, in addition to the forecast of investments of BRL 432 million by the winning companies.
The amount is paid by the winners of the auction for each exploratory block, in cash, to the Union, before signing the contract. The value is fixed, defined in the notice, unlike the concession system, where the value of the bonus is one of the criteria for selecting the winners.
In the case of the sharing regime, the criterion is the offer of a greater surplus in oil for the Union. The announcement brings a minimum percentage, from which companies make their offers. The ANP explains that the oil surplus is the portion of oil and natural gas production to be shared between the Union and the contracted company, after deducting from the total production volume the portions relating to royalties and the cost of the operation.
The director general of the ANP, Rodolfo Sabóia, considered that the auction was a success, having reached 72% of the total bonus offered in the round, out of a possible total of BRL 1.28 billion, “a very good result for Brazil “, according to him.
“With this we guarantee minimum investments of around R$ 1.44 billion, which will result in economic activity, job creation and income for Brazilians. This shows that the areas with the greatest potential were the object of interest for oil and gas exploration and production companies. But the best news today is that we managed to obtain competition for two of these four most relevant areas, which are Água Marinha and Norte de Brava”, said the general director.
Blocks
In all, 11 oil and gas exploration blocks were offered in today’s auction within the Pre-salt Polygon, in the Campos and Santos basins. Only four received proposals.
In Campos, the Água Marinha block was purchased by the consortium formed by Total Energies EP, Petronas and Qatar Energy, with an offer of 42.40% in surplus oil. Petrobras entered into competition for this block with Shell Brasil, taking second place. The Brazilian state-owned company exercised its participation right and will join the consortium. The premium achieved in oil was 220.48% above the minimum volume stipulated in the notice.
Norte de Brava, also in Campos, was purchased by Petrobras with 61.71% of surplus oil supply, which represents a premium of 171.73%. The competing consortium was formed by Petrobras, Equinor Brasil and Petronas, with a surplus offer of 30.71%.
In the Santos Basin, the two areas collected received unique offers. BP Energy won Bumerangue with an offer of 5.9% surplus, a premium of 4.24%. The Southeast Block of Sagitário was purchased by Petrobras, with an offer of 25% of the excess oil, a premium of 17.37%.
Sabóia points out that the areas of Sudoeste de Sagittarius, North of Brava and Bumerangue had already been offered previously, but no interested party manifested itself in the auction. The blocks Itaimbezinho and Turmalina, in the Campos Basin, and Ágata, Cruzeiro do Sul and Esmeralda, in the Santos Basin, were not auctioned due to lack of bidders.
