Brazil's Upcoming Oil and Gas Bid Rounds

The Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP) has scheduled two bid rounds for October 7 under its permanent offer initiative. The fourth auction will feature pre-salt acreage, while the sixth cycle will include onshore and offshore exploration blocks outside the pre-salt polygon.

Fourth Pre-Salt Round Details

Fifteen qualified companies, including Petrobras, BP, Chevron, Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies, can submit offers. A record 23 areas under production sharing contracts will be available, including Azurita, Calcita, and Hematita in the Campos basin, plus Agata, Amazonita, and Aragonita in the Santos basin. Signature bonuses are fixed, and the winning bidder offers the highest profit oil share to the government. In the first three pre-salt cycles, the ANP raised $193.1 million in signature bonuses.

Sixth Cycle Details

The sixth round features 495 exploration blocks, including offshore tracts in the Campos, Ceara, Espirito Santo, and Santos basins, and onshore tracts in the Parecis, Parnaiba, Potiguar, Reconcavo, Sao Francisco, Tacutu, and Tucano basins. Five marginal accumulations—Grauna, Lagoa Branca, Sempre-Viva, Curral de Fora, and Subauma Mirim—are also included. Thirty-six companies are qualified to bid. Companies must submit documents and pay a participation fee by June 5 to participate, with the final block list disclosed on August 6. In the five previous cycles outside the pre-salt fairway, the ANP raised $373 million in signature bonuses under the concession regime.

Background and Significance

Created in 2017, the permanent offer was designed to revitalize Brazil's onshore sector by making acreage continuously available. It has become the sole method to acquire new exploration blocks after the government canceled future bid rounds and transferred all acreage into this initiative.