Page 10 - LatAmOil Week 16 2022
P. 10

LatAmOil                                          BRAZIL                                            LatAmOil



       ANP hails investors’ strong response to




       latest bidding round, awards 59 blocks






                         BRAZIL’S  National Agency of Petroleum,   Colombia’s national oil company (NOC) Eco-
                         Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) reported last   petrol. Shell Brasil is slated to take a 70% equity
                         week that the most recent bidding round, the   stake in the blocks and will serve as operator;
                         Third Cycle of the Open Acreage in the Conces-  additionally, it will pay BRL98.158 ($21.09mn)
                         sion Model, had attracted more attention than   in bonuses for the assets.
                         anticipated.                           These acquisitions bring the number of
                           According to Rodolfo Saboia, the agency’s   Shell’s contracts in Brazil up to more than 30.
                         director-general, shows of interest from inves-  Manoela Lopes, director of exploration at Shell
                         tors outweighed all expectations. This led to 59   Brasil, hailed the company’s performance in the
                         exploration blocks in six offshore basins being   licensing round. “The third Permanent Offer
                         awarded in public bidding sessions, he noted. It   auction was another milestone in our focus in
                         also generated some BRL422.4mn ($90.77mn)   Brazil, which accounts for about 13% of Shell’s
                         in signature bonuses, a premium of 854.84% on   global oil and gas production,” she commented.
                         the minimum amount, and will see investors   “This new area further expands our portfolio in
                         spending at least BRL406.3mn ($87.31mn) on   Brazil, where we have been acting as operators
                         exploration work during the first phase of their   since the beginning of the 21st century.”
                         projects, he added.                    Another European major that came out vic-
                           “First, we obtained record collections in   torious was TotalEnergies (France). It won 100%
                         Open Acreage cycles, which consolidates this   stakes in two exploration blocks in the Santos
                         model as the main form of bidding areas for   basin, S-M-1815 and S-M-1711, and will pay
                         exploration and production of oil and natural   signature bonuses of $125mn and $150mn for
                         gas,” he said. “We also achieved a record in the   these assets. ™
                         number of blocks awarded in this model, adding
                         7,855 square km of exploratory area. And more
                         importantly, we achieved record minimum
                         investment commitments. These investments
                         will result in economic activity, employment
                         and income for Brazilians.”
                           ANP further noted that 13 companies had
                         been named as the top bidders in the auctions.
                         One of these companies, CE Engenharia, is new
                         to the Brazilian licensing rounds, it stated.
                           The agency also indicated that Shell (UK) had
                         done well in the bidding contest. It reported that
                         Shell Brasil, a subsidiary of the super-major, had
                         secured rights to six blocks in the Santos basin
                         – S-M-1910, S-M-1908, S-M-1817, S-M-1713,
                         S-M-1601 and S-M-1599 – in partnership with   Some of the 59 blocks in the round were in the Santos basin (Image: Petrobras)


       Petrobras reports on receipt of




       payment for stakes in Atapu oilfield






                         BRAZIL’S national oil company (NOC) Petro-  In a statement, Petrobras reported that Shell
                         bras said last week that it had received full pay-  Brasil, a subsidiary of the multi-national com-
                         ment from Shell (UK) for its share in Atapu, an   pany, had paid the sum of BRL5.26bn ($1.1bn)
                         offshore oilfield in the Santos basin, and had   for its 25% stake in Atapu. It indicated that the
                         given TotalEnergies (France) more time to pay   company had made its payment by the previ-
                         for its own share in the same field.  ously agreed deadline of April 15, 2022



       P10                                      www. NEWSBASE .com                           Week 16   21•April•2022
   5   6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15