ExxonMobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, BP PLC, and Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) added operated exploration positions with awards in Brazil’s 5th presalt bid round conducted by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels (ANP) where areas of the Saturno, Tita, Pau-Brasil, and Sudoeste de Tartaruga Verde blocks in the Campos and Santos basins were offered.
ExxonMobil will partner with Qatar Petroleum on the Tita exploration block in the Santos basin off Brazil, which adds more than 71,500 net acres to ExxonMobil’s deepwater portfolio offshore Brazil. ExxonMobil will serve as operator with 64% interest. Through the remainder of 2018 and into 2019, ExxonMobil will obtain 3D seismic coverage and continue work on regulatory requirements for exploration drilling by 2020, the company said.
Shell Brasil Petroleo Ltda. and its bid consortium member Chevron Brasil Oleo & Gas Ltda. were awarded a 35-year production-sharing contract for the Saturno presalt block in the Santos basin. With the award, Shell increases its total net acreage off Brazil to 2.7 million acres. Shell will serve as operator with 50% interest and says it will engage with Chevron to define specific plans for exploration drilling in the area.
BP was awarded the Pau-Brasil block in the Santos basin where it will serve as operator with 50% interest along with partners CNOOC Ltd., 30%, and Ecopetrol, 20%.
Petrobras was awarded Sudoeste de Tartaruga Verde in the Campos basin.
The 5th presalt bid round was the last ahead of Brazil’s presidential election to be held in October.
Contact Mikaila Adams at [email protected].