Landmark Brazilian auction falls flat
Enormous offshore pre-salt reserves fail to entice IOCs to the Transfer of Rights surplus bidding round
The build-up to the country’s so-called Transfer of Rights bidding round all augured well for the Brazilian government. After months of compensation negotiations with Brazil’s state-owned oil and gas company Petrobras over previous investments made in the deposits, the dispute was finally resolved and the auction promised to attract a multitude of international oil companies (IOCs) to the huge pre-salt oil reserves on offer—potentially generating at least R$106bn ($25.85bn) in signing bonuses. But the narrative failed to follow the script. Of the four fields on offer only Buzios and Itapu were successfully auctioned, raising just under R$70bn, or 65pc of the total available bonuses. Both the
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
