The Brazilian government released the results of its record-setting 16th bid round Oct. 10, which offered 36 blocks covering 29,300 square kilometers in the Pernambuco-Paraíba, Jacuípe, Camamu-Almada, Campos and Santos maritime sedimentary basins in Brazil.
"The … US$2.2 billion … in signature bonuses is the highest yet for a Brazilian round," Wood Mackenzie analyst Juliana Miguez said Oct. 10.
Petronas Petroleo Brasil Ltda., a subsidiary of Malaysian national oil company Petroliam Nasional Bhd., won three blocks in the Campos basin, two of which it will operate. In the Sector SC-AUP3, it outbid two consortia, one composed of subsidiaries of BP PLC and Equinor ASA, the other composed of subsidiaries of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Qatar Petroleum and Chevron Corp. In Sector SC-AP4, it was part of a consortium along with subsidiaries of Total SA and Qatar Petroleum that outbid Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, and an Equinor unit by committing to a higher exploration program.
"The Majors and Petrobras look to be keeping their powder dry, preferring to wait for the two upcoming rounds — the long-awaited transfer of Rights Surplus round on 6 November, and the PSC round on 7 November," Miguez said.

Most of the bids were centered in the Campos and Santos basins; the Pernambuco-Paraíba's SPEPB-AP3 sector, Jacuípe's SJA-AUP sector and the Camamu-Almada's SCAL-AUP sector received no offers, the Brazilian government said.
In the Santos Basin's SS-AUP5 sector, BP unit BP Energy do Brasil Ltda. won block S-M-1500 with a signing offer of 307.8 million Brazilian reais. A consortium composed of Chevron unit Chevron Brasil Óleo e Gás Ltda., Wintershall Dea GmbH subsidiary Wintershall DEA do Brasil Exploração e Produção Ltda., and Repsol SA unit Repsol Exploracao Brasil Ltda. provided the winning bid for block S-M-766 with a signing bonus of 54.1 million reais.
In the Campos Basin's SC-AP4 sector, Petrobras and BP Energy do Brasil grabbed block C-M-477 with a 2.05 billion real signing bonus. Block C-M-541 was taken by a consortium of Total unit Total E&P do Brasil Ltda, Petronas Petroleo Brasil Ltda., and Qatar Petroleum unit QPI Brasil Petróleo Ltda. with a 4.03 billion real signing bonus. A consortium composed of Shell unit Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda., QPI Brasil Petróleo and Chevron Brasil Óleo e Gás won Block C-M-659 with a signing bonus of 714 million reais.
In Campos' SC-AUP3 sector, Exxon Mobil Corp. subsidiary ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda. grabbed block C-M-479 with a 25.4 million real signing bonus, while Petronas Petróleo Brasil took Blocks C-M-661 and C-M-715 with signing bonus of 1.12 billion reais and 25 million reais, respectively.
In Campos' SC-AUP4 sector, Shell Brasil Petróleo, QPI Brasil Petróleo and Chevron Brasil Óleo e Gás partnered to take the C-M-713 block with a 550.8 million real signing bonus. Repsol Exploração Brasil won block C-M-795 with a 9.5 million real signing bonus. Repsol Exploração Brasil and Chevron Brasil Óleo e Gás took block C-M-825 with a 12.4 million real signing bonus, while Chevron Brasil Óleo e Gás, Wintershall DEA do Brasil Exploração e Produção and Repsol Exploração Brasil took the C-M-845 block with a 27 million real signing offer.
As of Oct. 9, US$1 was equivalent to 4.10 Brazilian reais.
