Seven companies competed for oil from the Mero and Búzios fields in the 4th Government Oil Auction.

In an auction contested by seven companies, Pré-Sal Petróleo (PPSA) sold, on Wednesday (31), at B3, 37.5 million barrels of oil from the Government’s 2025 production, related to the Mero and Búzios fields. The 4th Government Oil Auction set a record for the number of qualified companies, record participation of bidding companies, and record potential revenue for public coffers: the estimate is BRL 17 billion – BRL 2 billion more than initially expected – in just twelve months, starting in April 2025.

The auction was divided into four lots, three from Mero (two with 12 million barrels and one with 11 million barrels) and one from Búzios (with 2.5 million barrels).

All the lots were sold with results better than the 3rd Oil Auction, which sold the Government’s Mero and Búzios cargoes for the period from 2022 to 2024.

The weighted average price from 2022 to June 2024 for the Mero oil agreements was dated Brent minus USD 5.98 per barrel, and for Búzios, it was dated Brent minus USD 7.12 per barrel. The prices for the 2025 winners of the auction were as follows:

• Lot 1 Mero / Dated Brent minus USD 1.85 per barrel;
• Lot 2 Mero / Dated Brent minus USD 1.59 per barrel;
• Lot 3 Mero / Dated Brent minus USD 1.35 per barrel; and
• Lot 4 Búzios / Dated Brent minus USD 1.85 per barrel.

Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira, stated that it is essential to continue working to ensure more production, more revenue, more national capacity, and to reduce dependence on imports. “We are the 9th largest oil producer in the world and the largest in South America. Brazil has the largest recoverable deepwater oil reserves in the world. But we need to fight for energy independence and for the economic growth of the Brazilian people,” said the Minister.

Tabita Loureiro, Acting President of PPSA, emphasized that this auction achieved the highest value ever paid in history for the Government’s oil: “It’s an excellent result. The price offered is much higher than the current agreements. We worked hard on improving the public notice and the auction dynamics to maximize results for Brazilian society, and we have fulfilled our role.”

At the end of the event, Tabita announced that in 2025, PPSA will return to B3 to commercialize the estimated production for the Government in 2026. “All of this is just the beginning. The production-sharing agreements will generate a lot of oil for Brazilian society. By 2029, the Government's production in these agreements will exceed 500 thousand barrels per day. All of this means wealth for Brazil, direct contributions to the Social Fund,” she said.

Lots auctioned

Lot 1: Petrobras wins the first Mero lot

After prevailing in a competitive bid against companies CNOOC, Galp, Petrochina, Refinaria de Mataripe, and Total Energies, Petrobras secured the first lot of the Mero Field, pertaining to the production of 12 million barrels of oil from the FPSO Guanabara platform, at a price of dated Brent minus USD 1.85 per barrel.

Lot 2: The second lot of Mero was acquired by the Chinese company CNOOC.

The second lot of Mero, also comprising 12 million barrels of oil, this time from the FPSO Sepetiba, was acquired by the Chinese company CNOOC, at a price of dated Brent minus USD 1.59 per barrel, following a competitive bidding process with Petrobras. They also set values for this lot: Galp, Petrochina, and Mataripe Refinery.

Lot 3: The last lot of Mero goes to Petrochina.

Petrochina acquired the third and final lot of Mero, referring to the projected production from the FPSOs Duque de Caxias and Pioneiro de Libra, totaling 11 million barrels in 2025, for the dated Brent price minus USD 1.35 per barrel. The competition was intense in the live bidding process between the companies Petrobras and Petrochina. The company Galp also submitted a bid.

Lot 4: The Búzios lot was auctioned off to Petrobras in the 4th Government Oil Auction.

At the conclusion of the 4th Government Oil Auction, the Búzios lot was acquired by Petrobras for the dated Brent price minus USD 1.85 per barrel. The competition was intense in the live bidding process among Petrobras, Prio, and CNOOC. Petrochina and Galp also submitted bids.

Photo: JFDiorio