Brazil Plans Subsalt Auctions

Brazil plans to hold two subsalt oil auctions in 2017, putting new exploration areas up for bidding in November for what should be the most competitive round of the year, Oil Secretary Marcio Felix said on Thursday. The auctions, an effort to lure foreign investment in a sector that for much of the past decade has been the object of protectionist policies in Brazil, will be the first since 2013 for the offshore region known as the subsalt, where giant discoveries were made starting about a decade ago, Oil Price reported. The first auction, expected in the first half of this year, will offer areas next to existing discoveries already in development, Felix said. The November auction will be for fresh exploration areas and should generate more government revenue than the first, though the exact areas have not been decided yet. The auctions will be the first since Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras was freed from having to be the operator for all new projects in the subsalt.