The first auction of the Permanent Offer, held today (10), by the National Agency of Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), ended with 33 blocks auctioned in the Sergipe-Alagoas, Parnaíba, Potiguar and Recôncavo basins, and 12 more areas with accumulations. Potiguar, Sergipe-Alagoas, Recôncavo and Espírito Santo basins.

The total bonus collected from the exploratory blocks was R $ 15.32 million, with an average goodwill of 61.48%. The investment forecast is R $ 309.8 million.

In areas with marginal accumulations, also taken to auction this Tuesday (10), the total bonus totaled R $ 6.98 million, with average goodwill of 2,221.78% and forecast of R $ 10.5 million in investments. “The idea is to facilitate investment. This activity will generate royalties, revenues and jobs. I think the number of contracts is significant for us to have today in these areas, ”said ANP Director-General Décio Oddone.

For Oddone, among the positive factors of the public session of the 1st Cycle of the Permanent Offer is the diversification of winning companies, with the participation of small ones. “It's very positive. Several small businesses, some new to the public, popping up. That's exactly what we were expecting, ”he said.

“This is the beginning of a journey, and I hope this journey will be increasingly successful,” he said.

Market 

Odonne pointed out that at the auction on Tuesday (10) it was the market and not the ANP, “and this was because the conditions were given for this type of manifestation”. According to the director of the ANP, the adopted model was important. “I think the most important is the mechanism adopted. Changed the model. Previously, the ANP chose which areas it found interesting and was always a limited number of areas. These were not necessarily areas where the market found potential. The great merit of the permanent offer is the inversion of the mechanism. Now, who decides which areas are of interest is who is interested in the areas and not the granting authority, ”he explained.

According to Odonne, the investor now has more time to analyze the opportunities and choose which one to buy. He also said that the new permanent bidding model for a portfolio of blocks and areas with marginal accumulations for exploration and production of oil and natural gas, allowed the participation of smaller companies.

“Today we have a set of 600 blocks that are already available in the permanent offer. This set will be expanded to approximately 2,000 blocks. The next wave we will launch early next year. It depends on ANP internal processes of block approval and prior licensing of environmental agencies. Next year this stock increases, ”he said.

"In a few years, we will have the entire Brazilian territory, on land in sedimentary basins, all under the permanent supply regime and all offshore that have already been offered," he added.

Oddone recalled that this was the first auction in 20 years without the participation of Petrobras, "and yet it proved a success." He said it cannot compare with the size of the pre-salt, but in the auctions held from 2017 so far, there were 72 blocks contracted and only on Tuesday were 33 blocks and 12 areas with marginal accumulations. "It's absolutely symbolic," he noted.

Renata Isfer, acting secretary of Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels, said the result is very positive, considering the importance of revitalizing the sector and stimulating onshore production. “It turns out that with everyone's eyes on the pre-salt, she has been a little on the sidelines, not having made much progress in recent times, but we see that there is great potential in Brazil and, besides, it is very good for job creation and development of the country's own industry. This is very aligned and this result was extremely successful. We had 10 different companies that won in the auction. We had 33 blocks and a great value. It was all very positive, ”he told Agência Brasil.

Optimism 

Mines and Energy Minister Bento Albuquerque, who attended the auction opening, said he was pleased with the first auction of the year. “Of course I am [pleased]. It's the first oil and gas auction this year and we had two winning bids, one onshore and one offshore. This is in line with the programs and policies of the National Energy Policy Council. I think it's going well, ”he said as he left the auction after the first acquisitions.

About the next three auctions scheduled for October and November, the minister was also optimistic. “They will be a success and it also shows that the new gas market is already showing results when we see Eneva [an integrated Brazilian energy company that operates in the generation, exploration and production of oil and natural gas and trading of electricity] from Maranhão, offering and winning ”, he said.