Thursday 22 February 2018

Brazil's regulator, ANP, has announced that the Special Bidding Committee (CEL) has analysed the companies that requested to be registered in the 15th Round of Bids. A total of 14 companies had applications for registration judged and approved by CEL. Of these companies, 12 are of foreign origin. The bidding round will be held March 29 2018.

Of the 14 listed in this first stage, the Petronas and Cobra companies still do not have a contract for exploration and production of oil and natural gas in Brazil.

The rounds scheduled for 2018 inaugurate a new cycle of the oil industry in Brazil, with areas of different profiles, in segmented competitions. One of the innovations of the 15th Round will be the supply, separately, of land and sea areas. There will be 70 blocks in the sedimentary basins of Ceará, Potiguar, Sergipe-Alagoas, Campos and Santos and in the basins of Parnaíba and Paraná, totaling 95.5 thousand km².

Companies registered

R15 - Onshore

1. Cobra Brasil Services, Communications and Energy S.A.

2. Parnaíba Natural Gas

3. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras

4. Rosneft Brasil E & P Ltda.

R15 - Offshore

1. BP Energy do Brasil Ltda.

2. Chevron Brazil Ventures Llc.

3. Exxonmobil Exploração Brasil Ltda.

4. Murphy Exploration & Production Company

5. Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd

6. Premier Oil of Brazil Petroleo e Gas Ltda.

7. QPI Brasil Petroleo Ltda.

8. Repsol Exploração Brasil Ltda.

9. Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda.

10. Total E & P do Brasil Ltda.

11. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. Petrobras

At the next meeting of the Commission, on 05/03, other applications for registration will be evaluated. In all, 17 companies completed the registration form for maritime areas and five for land areas. There may be companies registered for both types of areas

The registered companies have met all the requirements set forth in the notice and are able to participate in the round. Registration is compulsory and individual for each interested party, even for those who wish to submit an offer through a consortium.

Once the requirements set forth in the bidding document have been approved and approved by the Special Bidding Commission, the company may submit bids only for the blocks located in the sectors for which it has paid the participation fee and provided a bid guarantee.

The process of qualifying the companies (operator A, B, C or non-operator) will only be done for the winning companies on the day of the public bidding session, a procedure adopted since the 13th Round, held in 2015.

The list of companies registered so far will be published in the Official Gazette of the Union and also in the Brasil Rounds website.