Brazil reaps reforms rewards
Efforts to recalibrate oil concession rules to be more market-friendly and open to foreign investment are starting to bear fruit
A record-breaking offshore auction in Brazil last week that attracted $2.4bn in pledges underlined progress the country's oil sector has made since a regulatory overhaul was launched to repair its international image. The bidding round on 29 March drew in the largest revenues in the country's history, with 13 companies from 11 countries taking part in the offshore round alone. ExxonMobil, along with Petrobras and Qatar Petroleum, spent $844m on a single block in the Campos basin, while Chevron, Repsol, Shell, BP and Statoil (soon to become Equinor) all spent big on others. "The auction surpassed all expectations. We had diversity of operators, geographical diversity and extraordinary bonuses
Also in this section
16 April 2026
Demand for oil is falling because supply cannot meet it, not because it is no longer required
16 April 2026
The continent has an immediate opportunity to make the most of its energy resources by capturing gas that is currently slipping away
15 April 2026
The continent is seeing political pushback to climate plans, corporate reassessment of transition goals and rising supply risk in a fractured global order
15 April 2026
The Middle East energy crisis may turn out to be pivotal to the industry’s long-term expansion, but significant challenges still stand in its way
