Petrobras and peers win 7 pre-salt oil blocks in Brazil

Brazil's national petroleum agency ANP auctioned seven out of 13 exploration blocks in the pre-salt polygon on October 7, 2026. Petrobras was among the winning companies in the bidding round, which raised BRL 530.5 million in signing bonuses for the awarded contracts.

Three individual companies and two consortia acquired the acreage. Alongside Petrobras, Prio Forte and Equinor Brasil secured blocks, as did a consortium formed by CNOOC Petroleum and Sinopec, and another comprising Equinor Brasil and Galp Energia Brasil.

The auction offered 13 offshore blocks across the Campos and Santos basins under a production-sharing regime. Minimum signing bonuses for the entire pool could have reached up to BRL 2.18 billion. Under this framework, winning bidders share a portion of oil production with the Brazilian federal government after recovering exploration costs.

The blocks offered in the Campos basin were Magnetita, Turmalina, Hematita, Larimar, and Azurita. In the Santos basin, the areas up for bid included Jade, Aragonita, Cruzeiro do Sul, Opala, Granada, Cerussita, Rubi, and Rodocrosita.