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To: BigBull who wrote (57159)	12/18/1999 8:29:00 PM
From: BigBull	Respond to of 95453

Brazil News: gasandoil.com Brazil to offer smaller areas with varied terrain in second round 30-09-99 Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP) said it took to heart lessons from its first ever oil licensing round and would offer smaller areas with varied terrain in its much-awaited second round. ANP director David Zylbersztajn said of the 23 blocks to be auctioned in the second quarter next year, 13 would be offshore in various depths of water and 10 would be onshore, where the oil regulator hoped to attract smaller, local companies. "The first round served as a test for the country and the world of oil. For the second round we have learned a lot," Zylbersztajn told. "The highlight of this round is that we are reducing by half the size of the blocks. This is a trend that will continue," he said as the ANP released details of the auction. Brazil sold oil development rights for 12 mostly offshore blocks at its landmark bidding round in June, when 10 foreign companies gained access to Latin America's second biggest reserves after Venezuela for the first time in 45 years. Previous to that, stateoil giant Petrobras held a monopoly over the entire industry with the exception of petroleum products distribution. Zylbersztajn refused to speculate whether there would be more industry interest in the second round, but said if world oil prices held at relatively high levels, companies would be more flush and willing to make new investments. "Whatever result will be a surprise for us. Hopefully it will be a good one," the chief oil regulator said. Investors paid $ 180 mm for exploration rights for the 12 blocks sold out of 27 offered in the first round, with the highest stakes paid for frontier zones in over 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) of water off the Atlantic. Hot properties being auctioned this time around include four offshore blocks in the prolific Campos Basin, where Brazil pumps most of its oil, and five in Santos Basin, where Petrobras just announced a big light crude find. ANP officials said their Internet research and correspondence with oil companies showed there was also a great deal of interest in the two deepwater and three onshore areas of the Sergipe-Alagoas Basin and the three onshore blocks in the Reconcavo Basin. Those concession areas as well as the ones being offered in Campos are coveted because Petrobras, which holds the most detailed data on Brazil's oil terrain, had held onto them when the company first lost its monopoly. Petrobras later had to return the blocks because it did not have the resources to develop them. Other blocks on offer in the second round include two onshore areas in the Potiguar Basin, which is the second biggest oil producing area after Campos. There will also be a shallow water block in Para/Maranhao Basin and one in Camamu-Almada along with onshore areas in Amazonas and Parana. The average area of the blocks is 2,500 sq. km compared to the average of 5,000 sq. km in the first auction, a sign of the increased level of seismic mapping in Brazil's sedimentary basin allowing a more pinpointed search for oil. The ANP will hold its first roadshow on the new round Oct. 27 in Rio and later head to Houston (Nov. 11), Tokyo (Nov. 12), Calgary (Nov. 15) and London at an undetermined date. The preliminary rules will be published this year followed by an industry workshop to finalise the bidding process, the ANP said. Source: Reuters Brazil to auction 13 offshore and 10 onshore areas in second auction 30-09-99 Brazil's National Petroleum Agency (ANP) released much-awaited details of its second oil area auction, saying it would offer 13 offshore and 10 onshore areas. The ANP said five blocks in the hot new Santos basin and four in the prolific Campos basin would be offered at the licensing round to be held in the second quarter of year 2000. ANP director David Zylbersztajn said he expected the second round to attract triple the amount of interest as the first one did in June as companies become more aggressive with the rise in global oil prices. Investors paid $ 180 mm for exploration rights for the 12 blocks sold out of 27 offered in the first round, with the highest stakes paid for frontier zones in over 2,000 meters (6,560 feet) of water off the Atlantic. Industry analysts expect bidding in the second round to be competitive for the Campos Basin, where Brazil pumps most of its oil, and the Santos Basin, where state-controlled Petrobras just announced a big find. Source:Reuters