Brazil oil auction draws interest from 24 companies

Brazil's next oil and gas licensing round in October has already drawn interest from 24 companies, local hydrocarbons regulator ANP said on Tuesday.

Round 13 will offer concessions for 266 exploration blocks, 182 of which are onshore and 84 offshore.

Interested bidders have until August 11 to register for the tender, which will be Brazil's first offering of oil and gas blocks since 2013.

"We have had good signs," ANP director José Gutman said during a seminar to promote the auction in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. "Of the 24 companies that have shown interest, 23 have already paid the [registration] fee."

The government expects to net up to 2bn reais (US$630mn) in signature bonuses from the October 7 auction.

Gutman denied that enthusiasm had been diluted by low oil prices and a corruption scandal at state-run oil firm Petrobras. "Companies involved in this business are looking long term," he said.

ANP did not disclose which companies had registered for the bid round. Earlier this year Russia's Gazprom, France's Total and the UK's BP said they were evaluating whether to participate.

In an interview with BNamericas last month, Rio de Janeiro-based consultancy Uphill said bidders could include international players BHP Billiton, Premier and Rosneft, in addition to local firms Petra Energia and PetroRio.

Full Round 13 bidding and contract terms, in Portuguese, can be seen here.

BNamericas will host its 5th LatAm Power Generation Summit in Lima, Peru, on August 19-20 and its 9th South America Infrastructure & Energy Summit in Bogotá, Colombia, on September 9-10. Click here to download the agendas.