Brazil reaps reforms rewards
Efforts to recalibrate oil concession rules to be more market-friendly and open to foreign investment are starting to bear fruit
A record-breaking offshore auction in Brazil last week that attracted $2.4bn in pledges underlined progress the country's oil sector has made since a regulatory overhaul was launched to repair its international image. The bidding round on 29 March drew in the largest revenues in the country's history, with 13 companies from 11 countries taking part in the offshore round alone. ExxonMobil, along with Petrobras and Qatar Petroleum, spent $844m on a single block in the Campos basin, while Chevron, Repsol, Shell, BP and Statoil (soon to become Equinor) all spent big on others. "The auction surpassed all expectations. We had diversity of operators, geographical diversity and extraordinary bonuses
Also in this section
5 September 2024
The 20th century’s two global conflicts made clear the geopolitical importance of oil, while Russia and Saudi Arabia joined the US as hydrocarbons superpowers
5 September 2024
In the second part of our history of oil special on the ascent of the US, Russia and Saudi Arabia, we examine the early years of the age of oil
5 September 2024
In this first part of the first chapter of our 90th anniversary special on the history of oil, we look at oil’s humble beginnings and the start of its rise to prominence
2 September 2024
The island nation plans to phase out nuclear energy and substitute coal for gas, but must first overcome import capacity constraints
