BRAZIL: Government Qualifies 16 Firms To Pre-salt Oil Areas Auction

(RTTNews) - The Brazilian oil sector regulator (ANP) said that 16 companies are eligible to take part in the fourth round of the pre-salt oil areas auction, which will take place on June 7. The tendered areas include Itaimbezinho, Tres Marias, Dois Irmeos and Uirapuru, in the Campos and Santos basins.

The number of companies disputing the areas is the highest ever recorded in pre-salt auctions. In the second and third rounds, the number of participants had been 11 and 15, respectively.

Among the approved companies, only Deutsche Erdoel AG and Petronas have no contracts for oil exploration and production in Brazil.

The full list of companies includes BP, Chevron, CNODC, CNOOC, Petroleum, Deutsche Erdoel, ExxonMobil, Ecopetrol, Petrogal, Petrobras, Petronas, QPI Oil, Queiroz Galveo, Repsol, Shell, Statoil and Total.