Petrobras, Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron Among Winners of Brazil Pre-Salt Auction

By Luciana Magalhães and Jeffrey T. Lewis 

SÃO PAULO -- Petróleo Brasileiro SA, Royal Dutch Shell PLC., Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. were among the winners in the auction Friday of Brazilian oil fields in the country's rich pre-salt region.

The government of President Michel Temer auctioned off four blocs, with the signing bonuses totaling just over 6.8 billion reais ($1.7 billion). Bids were made by offering a percentage of profit oil, which is the proportion of gains from the fields that will go to the government.

The Brazilian units of Shell and Chevron won the Saturno field with an offer of 70.2% of profit oil. The companies will pay 3.1 billion reais for the field, and each will have 50% of the consortium.

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s Brazilian unit and QPI Brasil won the Titã field, offering 23.49% of profit oil, and paying 3.1 billion reais. Exxon Mobil will have 64% of the consortium and QPI Brasil will have the remainder.

BP Energy, Ecopetrol and Cnooc won the Pau Brasil field, bidding 63.79% of profit oil, and paying 500 million reais. BP will have 50% of the consortium, Cnooc will have 30% and Ecopetrol will have 20%.

Petrobras, as Brazilian oil company Petróleo Brasileiro is known, offered 10.01% of profit oil to the government and was the sole bidder for the bloc.

It was the government's fifth auction of areas in the pre-salt region off the southeast Brazil coast near São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, where studies show as many as 100 billion barrels of crude are locked under salt layers far beneath the seabed.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 28, 2018 10:17 ET (14:17 GMT)

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