2018.03.2920:05:00UTC+00BRAZIL: Government Raises R$ 8 Billion In Offshore Oil Areas Auction

The Brazilian government sold less than half of the offshore oil blocks auctioned earlier today, raising R$ 8.014 billion (US$ 2.41 billion) and drawing an expected investment of R$ 1.222 billion to those areas.

According to official data, 22 out of 49 blocks were sold. It was the first oil area auction held after changes to the auctioning process.

The Santos Basin blocks raised a total of R$ 346.43 million to the government, with expected investments of R$ 83.75 million. A consortium formed by ExxonMobil and QPI Brasil bought the SM-536 block for R$ 165 million and the SM-647 block for R$ 49.5 million. Chevron Brasil, Wintershall Holding, and Repsol, together, bought the S-M764 block for R$ 131.9 million.

Nine blocks in the Campos basin yielded a total signing bonus of R$ 7.5 billion, with a minimum investment of R$ 862.75 million. In this area, the consortium formed by Petrobras, Statoil and ExxonMobil bought the blocks C-M-567 for R$ 2.128 billion and C-M-709 for R$ 1.5 billion. The consortium formed by ExxonMobil, QGI, and Petrobras won the C-M-753 for R$ 330 million.

The Sergipe-Alagoas basin had two blocks sold, totaling a signing bonus of R$ 7.26 million and an estimated investment of R $ 48 million. The SEAL-M-430 block was sold to the ExxonMobil, Murphy and Queiroz Galveo consortium for R$ 3.63 million, which held SEAL-AUP2 for R$ 3.63 million.

The blocks SM-534 and SM-645 were withdrawn by the Federal Audit Court (TCU) under the justification that they could cause losses to the Unions. The Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) said that it assesses the issue and intends to auction both areas later this year.