Unlocking New Frontier Basins in Brazil’s Oil and Gas Exploration
Brazil stands as Latin America’s largest oil and gas producer, boasting some of the world’s most significant recoverable ultra-deep oil reserves. With a vast coastline stretching approximately 7,400 kilometers, Brazil holds immense untapped potential for hydrocarbon exploration.
Historically, oil and gas activities have been concentrated in the prolific pre-salt fields of the Campos and Santos Basins. However, several other basins remain underexplored, presenting substantial opportunities for future development. One such basin is the Foz do Amazonas, where TGS seismic reservoir facies indicate highly prospective leads within Cretaceous and Tertiary structural and stratigraphic plays.
The Permanent Concession Offer (OPC) in Brazil
Brazil’s Permanent Concession Offer (OPC) is a continuous bidding process managed by the Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis (ANP) – the country’s National Agency for Petroleum, Natural Gas, and Biofuels. Unlike traditional auctions, this process allows companies to express interest in specific blocks at any time. Once fees are paid, a 120-day bidding cycle begins, during which sealed bids are submitted and opened in a transparent manner. Winning bids are determined based on signature bonuses and work program commitments, ensuring flexibility and ongoing access to both onshore and offshore blocks.
The 5th Cycle of the Permanent Concession Offer
Launched on February 11, 2025, the 5th Cycle of the Permanent Concession Offer (OPC) follows an official timeline published in Brazil’s Federal Official Gazette (DOU). The ANP has confirmed 30 registered bidders for this cycle. The next major milestone in the process is the public session for bid presentations, scheduled for June 17, 2025.
This cycle includes 332 blocks, with 288 offshore exploration blocks spread across nine different basins, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Map of Blocks in the 5th Cycle of the OPC (red) overlaid with TGS Data
This highly anticipated offering follows the record-breaking 4th Cycle in December 2023, where 192 exploratory blocks were awarded – surpassing the previous record of 59 blocks in the 3rd Cycle. The increasing number of awarded blocks highlights the growing interest in Brazil’s oil and gas sector and the expansion into new exploratory frontiers.
What’s Next?
To explore this topic further, check out our recent Well Intel article, The 5th Cycle of Permanent Offer Acreage: Transforming Brazil's Energy Landscape. In this article, we focused on two key emerging exploration frontiers:
- The Equatorial Margin
- Southern Brazil
Seismic data has revealed significant prospectivity in these regions, offering the potential to unlock vast hydrocarbon resources.