On April 15, 2019, the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels ("ANP") published the preliminary tender protocol ("Pre-Tender") of the 6th Bid Round under the production sharing regime ("6th Pre-Salt Round") to establish the procedures and rules for participating in the bid and to make available the production sharing agreement drafts, the preliminary schedule and other relevant information about the offered areas.
The 6th Pre-Salt Round will offer five blocks, four in the Santos Basin (Aram, Bumernague, Cruzeiro do Sul and Sudoeste de Sagitário) and one in the Campos Basin (Norte de Brava). Petrobras has preferential rights to be the operator with a minimum 30% participating interest in the Aram, Sudoeste de Sagitário and Norte de Brava blocks.
The Pre-Tender established the following amounts for the blocks offered:
|
Block |
Signature Bonus (BRL) |
Minimum Percentage of Profit Oil (%) |
|
Aram |
5.05 billion |
24.53% |
|
Bumerangue |
550 million |
26.68% |
|
Cruzeiro do Sul |
1.15 billion |
22.87% |
|
Sudoeste de Sagitário |
500 million |
26.09% |
|
Norte de Brava |
600 million |
36.98% |
The technical data package is already available, and interested bidders must (i) fill out the electronic registration form; (ii) submit the registration documents required by the Pre-Tender document, such as the company’s corporate documents and evidence of powers of its legal representatives or attorneys-in-fact and the confidentiality agreement; and (iii) pay the participation fee, in accordance with the specific sector of interest. The 6th Pre-Salt Round will follow this schedule:
|
Event |
Date |
|
Publication of the draft tender protocol and production sharing agreement drafts |
April 15, 2019 |
|
Commencement of the period for delivery of documentation for expression of interest, qualification, and payment of the participation fee |
April 15, 2019 |
|
Technical data package availability |
April 15, 2019 |
|
Deadline for comments on the draft tender protocol and the production sharing agreement drafts and end of public consultation |
May 6, 2019 |
|
Public hearing (city of Rio de Janeiro) |
May 10, 2019 |
|
Technical seminar |
August 2019 |
|
Publication of tender protocol and production sharing agreement models |
September 4, 2019 |
|
Environmental and fiscal-legal seminars |
September 2019 |
|
Deadline for delivery of documentation on expression interest, qualification, and payment of participation fee |
September 19, 2019 |
|
Deadline to present the bid offer guarantees |
October 23, 2019 |
|
Public session for the presentation of offers |
November 7, 2019 |
|
Award process and ratification of the bidding |
Until November 18, 2019 |
|
Deadline to submit documents related to (i) the signing of the production sharing agreements; (ii) the additional bid guarantee, when necessary; and (iii) the qualification of the affiliate appointed for the signing of the contract, should the need arise |
December 27, 2019 |
|
Deadline for payment of the signing bonus and proof of payment |
December 27, 2019 |
|
Signing of the production sharing agreement |
Until March 31, 2020 |
Among the changes with this Pre-Tender document is the obligation to submit the required documentation by uploading it through the Electronic Information System ("SEI"), using the instructions provided in the “SEI External User Manual” and the “Manual for Submission of ANP Bidding Documents on SEI” available on the ANP/Rodadas website (Portuguese only).
In addition to the digital submission through SEI, the original versions of the (i) bid bonds, (ii) financial guarantees of the minimum exploratory program and (iii) performance guarantees must also be submitted in hard copy form to ANP.
The Pre-Tender is available on the ANP/Rodadas website (Portuguese only). All documents are available for public consultation, and comments will be accepted from both industry and the general public up until May 6, 2019.
We will keep following the development of the 6th Pre-Salt Round, and will keep you posted through our Legal Updates. For more information about the topics raised in this Legal Update, please contact any member of our energy team.