Brazil’s National Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels agency (ANP) expanded on its approval of the country’s 13th bid round, with the announcement of more than 22 of 39 applications from international oil and gas companies.
Magda Chambriard, ANP director general. |
Adding to the list of 12 that were approved earlier this week include supermajors BP, ExxonMobil, Statoil, Rosneft, and Total.
Brazil’s 13th bid round will be held on 7 October and will offer 266 exploration blocks, both on and offshore, in 10 sedimentary basins: the Amazon, Parnaíba, Potiguar, Reconcavo, Sergipe-Alagoas, Jacuípe, Camamu-Almada, Espírito Santo, Campos and Pelotas.
Other companies to be approved on 24 August were: Houston-based Anadarko, Japan’s Mitsui, Colombia’s Ecopetrol, Brazil’s Petrobras, Queiroz Galvao E&P, BPMB, GEOPAR, Geopark, Oil M&S, Parnaíba Participações, PetroRecôncavo, Petrosynergy, Phoenix Empreendimentos, Tek Oil and Gas, TSL, UTC, and Vipetro Petróleo.
Unlike previous rounds, the qualification process will only be made to the winning companies, the ANP said.
Earlier this week, the ANP announced the first 12 companies to be pre-approved for the 13th bidding round, which included Shell, GDF Suez, Galp Energia, PTTEP, Sonagol, Premier Oil, among others.
Recent licensing rounds, the US Gulf of Mexico and Mexico’s Round One, received less than stellar participation. The US Gulf of Mexico Lease sale 246 held last week on brought in US$22.7 million in bids. Mexico’s highly anticipated Round One held in July awarded only two of 14 contract areas in the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
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ANP approves 12 for Brazil round