By Marta Nogueira and Alexandra Alper
Exxon along with Petrobras and Qatar PetroleumIntl shelled out 2.8 billion reais (
Chevron Corp, Repsol SA, Royal Dutch ShellPlc, BP Plc and Statoil ASA also spenttop dollar to lock down stakes in Brazilian offshore blocks,some of which may be part of the coveted pre-salt play, whereoil is trapped under layers of salt beneath the ocean floor.
"We are more confident in investment in
Exxon, which also won a pre-salt block in October last year,will operate six of the eight blocks it won on Thursday.
Exxon took 10 blocks in a September round in
Higher oil prices and the need to replace shrinking reserveshave boosted appetite among oil majors for costlier,higher-yield offshore ventures, though some projects are stillseen as too pricey to be viable.
The offshore segment of the concession-style auction was amajor success for
Results exceeded expectations despite an unexpected move bya Brazilian court on Wednesday to remove two of the mostattractive blocks in the Santos basin from the round, based onthe argument that they should be auctioned under aproduction-sharing regime to create more value for thegovernment.
The government will seek to auction off those blocks as partof a pre-salt round in June.
The big bids underscore oil majors' urgency to lock instakes in
Still, there may be more opportunities than previouslythought to take stakes in
Officials told Reuters the June round could be followed byan auction of top geology pre-salt areas in the Santos basin inthe second half of the year if the government and Petrobras canend a dispute over the area.(