By Brazil Stock Guide – Brazil could collect about R$ 1.24 billion in fixed signing bonuses from an oil auction on Wednesday if all 13 production-sharing blocks on offer are awarded, according to a calculation based on oil regulator ANP’s tender data. The blocks also carry minimum exploration commitments totaling about R$ 1.41 billion.
A separate concession auction later the same day could add further proceeds, although the amount cannot be determined in advance because companies bid on signing bonuses under that system. ANP will offer 22 exploration sectors and two sectors containing marginal accumulations in the concession round.
The potential R$ 1.24 billion haul from the production-sharing auction would exceed the roughly R$ 989 million raised in the fifth Permanent Concession Offer in 2025, which ANP said was the highest signing-bonus total recorded in any permanent-offer concession or production-sharing cycle. That 2025 round also generated minimum exploration commitments of about R$ 1.46 billion.
The largest fixed bonuses in Wednesday’s production-sharing round are attached to the Cerussita block, at about R$ 329.1 million, and Opala, at R$ 249.1 million. Cruzeiro do Sul carries a R$ 134 million bonus, while Jade, Azurita and Magnetita each have bonuses ranging from roughly R$ 93 million to R$ 105 million.
ANP will offer five production-sharing blocks in the Campos Basin — Azurita, Hematita, Larimar, Magnetita and Turmalina — and eight in the Santos Basin — Aragonita, Cerussita, Cruzeiro do Sul, Granada, Jade, Opala, Rodocrosita and Rubi. Nineteen companies are qualified to participate, although registration does not mean they will necessarily submit bids.
The qualified list includes Petrobras, Shell, Chevron, BP, TotalEnergies, Equinor, CNOOC, Petronas and QatarEnergy. Sinopec, Repsol, Ecopetrol, Kuwait’s Kufpec and Brazilian independent producer PRIO are also eligible to bid.
The concession auction has a broader field of 46 qualified companies, including ExxonMobil alongside Petrobras, Shell, Chevron, BP, TotalEnergies and Equinor. Brazilian producers Eneva, PetroReconcavo, Origem Energia, PRIO and Fluxus are also on the list.
Unlike the production-sharing auction, where signing bonuses are fixed and companies compete mainly on the share of surplus oil offered to the government, concession bids include the signing bonus itself as a competitive component. The bonus carries an 80% weight in the scoring of exploration blocks, with exploration commitments accounting for the remaining 20%.
That means the government’s final cash proceeds from Wednesday’s two auctions could be higher than the R$ 1.24 billion already embedded in the 13 production-sharing blocks, depending on how many concession blocks receive bids and the premiums offered by companies.
ANP also removed five blocks in the Parnaiba Basin from the concession auction after identifying what it called a material error in the application of socio-environmental restrictions. The regulator said the blocks could return to the Permanent Offer portfolio after the areas are reassessed and adjusted.
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