The consortium comprised of Petrobras, Shell, Total , CNPC and CNOOC secured the right to develop Brazil’s Libra block at the single-bid auction held in Rio de Janeiro on October 21.
The Libra block is located in the Santos Basin ultra deep waters in the pre-salt polygon. The total extension of the area is 1,547.76 km sq and was discovered by well 2-ANP-0002ARJS, drilled in 2010.
According to the contract, the exploration phase of the block will have duration of four years. The minimum exploratory program, to be carried out during this period, includes 3D seismic for the whole block, 2 exploratory wells and 1 extended well test.
The exploration and production contract to be executed for this block will be under a production sharing framework in accordance with law no. 12,351, of December, 2010 which authorizes the exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the pre-salt and other strategic areas.
The National Council for Energy Policy (CNPE) established a 30% stake to be acquired directly by Petrobras. Therefore, with the results of the auction, the total participation of Petrobras in the consortium will be 40% and all its rights and obligations will be proportional to this stake.
Partners Shell and Total each have 20% stake in the field, and CNPS and CNOOC each hold 20% interest in the block.