By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil’s oil regulator ANP has opened two new permanent offer cycles for oil and gas exploration areas, setting October 7, 2026, as the date for public bidding sessions under both the concession and production-sharing regimes.
The new calendar gives Brazil another chance to test investor appetite for upstream exploration, with a registered bidder list that includes some of the world’s largest oil companies, state-backed energy groups and domestic independents.
Oil majors return
For the 6th Permanent Concession Offer cycle, ANP says 36 companies currently have active registration. The list includes Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (PETR4, PETR3), Shell Brasil Petróleo, ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP Energy, Equinor and TotalEnergies.
It also includes Chinese-linked companies such as CNODC, CNOOC and Sinopec Exploration and Production Brazil, alongside QatarEnergy, Petronas, Petrogal, Ecopetrol and Karoon.
The presence of global majors does not mean all will bid. Registration only makes companies eligible to participate. But it gives the October round a stronger institutional profile at a time when Brazil is trying to keep exploration activity alive beyond its most mature offshore areas.
Domestic independents
The concession list also includes Brazilian and regional players such as PetroRecôncavo, Origem Energia, Alvopetro, Atem Participações, Mandacaru Energia, Fluxus, Petroborn, Petrom, Federal Energia and other smaller operators.
That mix matters because Brazil’s permanent offer model is not aimed only at giant offshore discoveries. It also covers exploratory blocks and marginal accumulation areas that may be more relevant to smaller companies with appetite for mature basins, onshore assets or lower-ticket exploration opportunities.
Under the 6th Permanent Concession Offer, ANP may offer five areas with marginal accumulations and 495 exploratory blocks across sectors included in the current tender documents.
Production sharing
The 4th Permanent Production Sharing Offer includes 23 available blocks. In that regime, generally used for more strategic areas, companies bid by offering the federal government a share of profit oil.
ANP says 15 bidders are registered for the production-sharing process. Companies not yet registered for either cycle have until June 5 to apply. Registered companies interested in participating must submit declarations of interest and bid guarantees by July 21.
The sectors included in the concession cycle and the specific blocks available in the production-sharing round are scheduled to be disclosed on August 6.
Permanent offer
The permanent offer has become Brazil’s main licensing mechanism for oil and gas exploration. Unlike traditional bid rounds, it allows companies to study technical data continuously and present offers when they consider the assets attractive enough.
ANP has already held five permanent offer cycles under the concession regime, in 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025, and three under the production-sharing regime, in 2022, 2023 and 2025.
For Brazil, the October round will be another signal of how oil companies are reading the country’s reserve-replacement opportunity, regulatory stability and long-term role in the global energy mix. For investors, the bidder list suggests the country remains on the radar — but the real test will come only when declarations of interest turn into binding offers.
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