The board of the ANP approved yesterday (November 28) the beginning of the process of permanent supply of areas for exploration and production of oil and natural gas. The process, provided for in article 4 of CNPE Resolution 17/2017, provides for the continuous supply of fields returned (or in the process of being returned), of exploratory blocks offered in previous and uncolored rounds and also of the blocks returned to the Agency.

A total of 846 blocks were selected from 13 Brazilian sedimentary basins, totaling 285,399.65 km2, which corresponds, for example, to 28 times the area of the Recôncavo Basin.

The selected areas include blocks in the terrestrial mature basins of the Recôncavo, Potiguar, Sergipe-Alagoas and Espírito Santo. Also blocks in the basins of the new frontier of Acre, Amazonas, Paraná, Parnaíba, São Francisco and Tucano, and blocks in the sea basins of Pará-Maranhão, Sergipe-Alagoas, Campos and Santos are also planned.

The proposal also foresees 15 areas with mature accumulations in the terrestrial basins of Espírito Santo, Potiguar and Recôncavo.

The areas selected by the ANP still depend on evaluation of the competent environmental agencies.

The blocks selected for the Permanent Offer will be disclosed on the Brasil Rounds website as of November 30, 2017, when economic agents can obtain more detailed information.

By the end of April 2018, the ANP will disclose the rules for participation and the technical and economic parameters of the areas in permanent supply, when the bidding process will be started on an ongoing basis. Bid submission sessions should take place from November 2018.

In order to hold the bidding session, the ANP must have received at least one demonstration with the offer guarantee offered for each area of interest.

The opening of the permanent supply process represents another important step in resumption of exploration and production of oil and natural gas in Brazil. By bringing opportunities to companies of different profiles and sizes, it is part of the set of measures being adopted aimed at the development of a diversified, dynamic and competitive sector in the different exploratory environments existing in Brazil: pre-salt, conventional sea and land.

The expected results are increased investments and oil production, with impacts on the collection and generation of employment and income, especially in the selected regions.