ANP announces rules for new auction of Santos Basin pre-salt areas

The oil regulator ANP announced preliminary rules for a major oil auction in the Santos Basin pre-salt areas on Thursday. Also, the date was postponed from October 28 to November 6.  The preliminary rules will be in subject to public consultation until July 3, according to the ANP. A public hearing will take place in Rio de Janeiro on July 5.

The auction comprises production-sharing contracts for an area spanning ​​1,385 km2. The prospects are areas close to the fields included in the Rights Transfer agreement signed by the government with Petrobras.  The contracts must be signed by March 2020, according to the ANP.

In 2010, Petrobras received the right to the equivalent of up to 5bn barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) in the pre-salt areas. However, as the volumes discovered were significantly larger, the government is auctioning the surplus.

Protests against pension reforms

More news on Petrobras is that the company’s oil tankers started a strike in eight Brazilian states last Friday as part of protests across the country against a proposed government pension reform, according to union group FUP.

Workers at nine refineries, including Reduc in Rio de Janeiro and Paulínia in the state of São Paulo, participated in the strike, which also affected a Petrobras port terminal in Pernambuco and a fertilizer factory in Bahia. In the Campos Basin, in Rio de Janeiro, the workers kept operations to a minimum.  In addition to trying to block changes in public sector pensions, FUP said that oil workers were protesting against the privatization of Petrobras’ system.

Source: Reuters

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