Brazil ANP: Review Of BP-Devon Deal Is "Normal Procedure"

RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)--Brazilian oil regulators are reviewing troubled oil giant BP PLC's (BP, BP.LN) purchase of offshore oil blocks from U.S. independent Devon Energy Corp. (DVN) as part of "normal approval procedures for farm-out operations," a spokesman for the country's National Petroleum Agency, or ANP, told Dow Jones Newswires on Wednesday. "It's completely normal and has nothing to do with the accident in the Gulf of Mexico," the spokesman said. Any transaction involving the purchase or sale of stakes in offshore oil licenses requires the review and approval of the ANP. In March, Devon sold BP assets in Brazil, Azerbaijan and the deep-water part of the Gulf of Mexico for $7 billion. Earlier Wednesday, U.K. newspaper The Times reported that the ANP had sent a team of top officials to Texas to question BP about the catastrophic oil spill. The ANP, however, disputes that the team was sent specifically to question BP. "The ANP, much like everyone else in the global oil industry, is accompanying the investigation into the accident," the spokesman said. In May, the ANP requested permission from U.S. regulators to observe the investigation into the well blowout and explosion that sank Transocean's (RIG) Deepwater Horizion rig. U.S. regulators granted permission, and ANP Director Magda Chambriard and coordinator of safety operations Rafael Moura are in Houston accompanying the investigation, the spokesman said. Brazilian officials have been watching developments in the Gulf of Mexico closely. More than 85% of the country's crude oil is pumped from offshore fields in Brazil's own Campos Basin. In addition, the country expects oil production to skyrocket in coming years as the so-called presalt oil fields enter operation. The presalt oil frontier is somewhat similar to the ultra-deepwater Lower Tertiary region in the Gulf of Mexico. The presalt finds were made under a thick layer of salt in the Santos Basin off the coast of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro states. The oil lies under more than 2,000 meters of water and a further 5,000 meters under sand, rock and a shifting layer of salt. In the wake of the Deepwater Horizon accident, the ANP ordered a review of safety procedures at oil companies drilling in Brazilian waters. The ANP requested information about well-control systems employed by the oil companies. The information will then be reviewed by the ANP, with some companies asked to re-evaluate their emergency plans and submit documentation of their ability to respond in case of emergency. -By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6085; Jeff.Fick@dowjones.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 16, 2010 09:52 ET (13:52 GMT)