Brazilian oil regulator ANP has announced that Petrobras and Equinor were the main winners in the country’s latest pre-salt offshore oil auction, each securing a block and jointly winning a third. The auction covered seven offshore areas under Brazil’s production-sharing regime.
Petrobras won the Citrino block by offering 31.2% of profit-oil to the Brazilian government. Equinor secured the Itaimbezinho block with a 6.9% offer, the lowest among the awarded areas. The two companies also partnered to win the Jaspe block through a joint bid offering 32.9% of profit-oil, surpassing a competing proposal from Chevron and QatarEnergy.
Other winners included Australia’s Karoon Energy, which obtained the Esmeralda block with a 14.1% profit-oil offer, and a consortium formed by China’s CNOOC and Sinopec, which won the Ametista block with a 9% offer.
Of the seven areas offered, two received no bids. According to ANP, fifteen companies had registered for the round, but only eight submitted bids. Major players such as Shell and BP did not participate in this auction.
Following the results, ANP Director General Artur Watt said:
“We are very satisfied with the result of the auction.”
The pre-salt region, located in deep waters off Brazil’s southeastern coast, continues to attract global attention due to its large reserves and established production infrastructure.
