Majors come calling for Brazil's pre-salt
Shell and Petrobras were the big winners in Brazil's latest upstream bid round, along with backers of Brazil's oil reforms
Big oil is ready to bet on Brazil again. That was the takeaway from October's pre-salt bid round, the first since 2013 which follows a raft of investor-friendly reforms earlier this year which overhauled the oil industry's regulatory landscape. Six of eight blocks potentially holding more than 10bn barrels of reserves were awarded to a raft of international majors. The government expects the round to draw in tens of billions of dollars in investment. It should also set the stage for exploration to pick up again in the pre-salt after a long lull in bid rounds for new areas. State-run Petrobras was the pre-salt round's big winner, flexing its muscles as it looks to lift itself from undoubtedly
Also in this section
23 January 2025
The end of transit, though widely anticipated, leaves Europe paying a third more for gas than a year ago and greatly exposed to supply shocks
23 January 2025
The country’s government and E&P companies are leaving no stone unturned in their quest to increase domestic crude output as BP–ONGC tie-up leads the way
22 January 2025
The return of Donald Trump gives further evidence of ‘big oil’ as an investable asset, with the only question being whether anyone is really surprised
21 January 2025
The new president must put his cards on the table and tell the American people, and the world, if the US is formally abandoning the energy transition
