(Updates with auction results)
By Gram Slattery and Marta Nogueira
RIO DE JANEIRO, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Ten companies on Thursday
agreed to pay more than $2 billion for the exploration and
production rights in 12 offshore oil blocks in Brazil, in what
could be a promising sign for even bigger upcoming oil auctions.
The most heavily sought after areas in the Thursday auction
directly border Brazil's so-called pre-salt area, a zone in
which billions of barrels of oil are trapped under a thick layer
of salt beneath the ocean floor.
Pre-salt blocks will be up for grabs in two much larger
auctions scheduled for Nov. 6 and Nov. 7, including the
so-called transfer-of-rights auction, which is expected to fetch
around $25 billion for the government.
On Thursday, companies agreed to pay the Brazilian
government 8.9 billion reais ($2.2 billion) in signing bonuses.
Twenty-four blocks, many in more marginal oil producing areas,
failed to attract a bidder and will be placed in a new program
the Brazilian government calls "permanent offer."
The biggest move came from a France's Total SA,
which, in a consortium with Malaysia's Petronas and Qatar
Petroleum dropped 4.029 billion reais for one coveted block
abutting the pre-salt area. Total will be the operator, with a
40% stake. Those areas, known as "fringe blocks," are believed
to share some geology with the pre-salt area.
After the auction, Mines and Energy Minister Bento
Albuquerque said the results were "well above expectations,"
pointing out that minimum signing bonus for all areas together
combined was just 3.2 billion reais.
Other significant winning bids included a bid of 1.116
billion reais by Petronas for a block in the Campos Basin, and a
2.045 billion reais bid from Brazil's Petrobras and
BP Plc for a separate block.
Petronas made another significant move into Brazil in April,
when it purchased two oilfields from state-run Petrobras for
$1.29 billion.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Wintershall Dea GmbH,
Chevron Corp, Exxon Mobil Corp and Repsol SA
also won at least minority stakes in exploration
blocks.
It was not all positive news for the oil industry, however.
Seven blocks near the ecologically sensitive Abrolhos
archipelago in northeastern Brazil received no bids, after
environmental litigation involving federal prosecutors was
disclosed on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery and Marta Nogueira; additional
reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier; editing by Richard Pullin and
Steve Orlofsky)
