Brazil awarded 56 oil and gas exploration blocks in two licensing rounds held on October 7, with Petrobras, Equinor, QatarEnergy, Galp and Chinese energy companies among the successful bidders, according to the country's National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP).
The awards included 49 blocks under the sixth Permanent Concession Offering and seven pre-salt blocks under the fourth Permanent Production-Sharing Offering, covering offshore acreage in the Campos, Santos and Ceará basins, as well as onshore exploration areas.
In the concession round, Petrobras secured 12 offshore exploration blocks in the Campos Basin and partnered with QatarEnergy to win seven blocks in the Ceará Basin, along Brazil's northeastern Equatorial Margin.
Petrobras will operate the Ceará blocks with a 70% participating interest, while QatarEnergy will hold the remaining 30%.
The awarded blocks are CE-M-471, CE-M-473, CE-M-475, CE-M-477, CE-M-537, CE-M-539 and CE-M-665.
The concession round also saw exploration blocks awarded in the onshore Potiguar, Tacutu, Recôncavo, Parnaíba and Tucano Sul basins, with Eneva, PetroRecôncavo, Aguila, Alvopetro, Origem, Petrom and Tucano Serviços among the successful bidders.
Separately, seven pre-salt exploration blocks were awarded in the Santos and Campos basins under the production-sharing round.
Norway's Equinor and Portugal's Galp secured the Rodocrosita block in the Santos Basin, with Equinor holding a 70% operating interest and Galp the remaining 30%.
Equinor also won the Rubi block, while China's CNOOC Petroleum and Sinopec secured the Jade block, with CNOOC holding a 70% operating interest and Sinopec 30%.
Petrobras won the Azurita block in the Campos Basin and Cruzeiro do Sul in the Santos Basin, taking full interests in both.
Brazilian oil company Prio Forte secured the Magnetita and Hematita blocks in the Campos Basin, also with 100% interests.
According to ANP, the production-sharing auction marked the largest number of blocks awarded in a single cycle since the permanent offering system was introduced, surpassing the five blocks awarded in 2025.
The winning companies must complete the remaining administrative procedures before the contracts can be signed, with signing expected by February 26, 2027.
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