Energy
0

Brazil to Auction Deepwater Fields

Brazil to Auction Deepwater Fields
Brazil to Auction Deepwater Fields

Top global oil companies will compete on Friday in Brazil’s billion-dollar auction for some of the world’s most prolific deepwater oilfields, a test of their appetite for capital-intensive offshore projects after three years of low oil prices. Competition between firms such as Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total is expected to be fierce for the more than 12 billion barrels of estimated oil reserves Brazil is offering. At current prices, that volume of oil is worth around $600 billion, Reuters reported. After reforms to the energy sector in the past year and a half, Brazil will auction eight blocks on more attractive terms than ever before to international firms for access to its pre-salt fields. They are reservoirs of oil that sit beneath thousands of feet of salt under the deep Atlantic waters off eastern Brazilian shores. Big oil firms have stepped back from multi-year projects such as those in deepwater fields since oil prices crashed in 2014, as they cut costs to survive at prices of around $50 a barrel.

 

Add new comment

Read our comment policy before posting your viewpoints

Financialtribune.com