Brazil sells 5 of 7 deepwater exploration blocks



10/23/2025 3:12 AM


Brazil has auctioned five of seven available blocks to major firms, such as Petrobras and Equinor ASA, indicating a revived interest in deepwater exploration along the nation's southern coast, despite low oil prices, according to Bloomberg's report.



Erik Christensen
The auction produced a few unexpected results: Karoon Energy Ltd., based in Melbourne, secured the Esmeralda block outright. Chinese oil companies CNOOC and Sinopec secured the block independently, without local collaborators. Independent consultant Marcelo de Assis indicates that this will mark the first occasion that Chinese firms engage in pre-salt exploration.

The fields are situated in the pre-salt area, which is so fruitful that the biggest project generates more oil than the total output of Colombia. Findings from the 2000s positioned Brazil as one of the top producers in Latin America, yet exploration lagged for more than ten years until BP revealed the discovery of the Boomerange field in the pre-salt region this year.

Petrobras, which is state-owned, also revealed several oil finds in the Aram block located within the pre-salt layers.

Significant European firms working in Brazil—Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies—have not put forth any bids for these blocks.

source: bloomberg.com

 


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