Registered companies largely exited stage left
Brazil suffers acreage sale setback
Bidding round deemed a disappointment after most operators steer clear
The bruising economic and financial toll of the pandemic may have started to ease, but licensing rounds are still feeling the effects. Brazil’s latest offshore offering—the 17th bidding round—failed to attract more than two bidders, raising just BRL$37mn ($6.7mn) from five blocks. Four basins were available to the nine registered companies: Chevron, Shell, TotalEnergies, Brazilian NOC Petrobras, Colombian state firm Ecopetrol, US independent Murphy Oil, Australian firm Karoon, Germany’s Wintershall and Brazilian independent 3R Petroleum. But despite this varied slate of IOCs and NOCs, only the pre-salt Santos basin attracted winning bids. Shell took a stake in five blocks, one in consortium
Also in this section
2 December 2024
Crucial role of gas means country is laying the foundations to control physical and trading supply chains
30 November 2024
Decades of turmoil have left Iraq’s vast energy potential underutilised, but renewed investment and strategic reforms are transforming it into a key player in the region
29 November 2024
Although Iraq remains a major crude exporter, it is still some way from becoming a regional energy supply hub. Ambitious new cross-border schemes aim to rectify that situation
29 November 2024
There are opportunities for attractive returns and greater project success amid a real push by the Iraqi government for reform, as long as there is a shared understanding between the needs of investors and the host government
