On June 20, 2013, the Brazilian Ministry of Mines and Energy published the general rules for the first bidding round for the Pre-Salt area, under the production sharing regime.
The rules provide that only those who obtain qualification as "Operator A" (either individually or, in case of consortium, with at least one member with such qualification) will be allowed to bid. This requirement aims at ensuring that bidders will have the necessary technical knowledge concerning exploration and production in deep waters.
However, the main point concerns the sharing of the profit oil. The volume shared between the Union and the contractor will vary depending on the price of the oil barrel and the average daily production per productive well in each of the fields. This is a relevant provision once the profit oil is the criterion that shall determinate the winning bid under the production sharing model, in addition to setting the remuneration of the company.
The rules also define that, for the preparation of the proposal, the percentage of profit oil to be offered to the Union by the bidders shall refer to an amount between 100 and 110 U.S dollars per barrel of oil, and an average production of 12,000 barrels per day per active producing well. The term of the production sharing agreement will be 35 years.
The first bidding round for the Pre-Salt area is expected to occur in October. The only area to be offered is Libra, located in the Santos Basin.
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