Brazil awards 19 new oil blocks in the Amazon estuary in a controversial auction

With today's tender, the Amazon River mouth basin now has 28 oil blocks with active concession contracts, while the area for black gold exploration has increased from 5,700 to 21,900 square kilometers

The Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP) has granted 19 new blocks for oil exploration in the Amazon River basin, located in the state of Amapá, in the north of the South American country.

With today's tender, the Amazon River mouth basin now has 28 oil blocks with active concession contracts, while the area for black gold exploration has increased from 5,700 to 21,900 square kilometers.

A consortium formed by Brazil's state-owned Petrobras and US-based Exxon won ten of the oil blocks in the Amazon River basin, while another consortium, formed by Chevron and China's CNPC, acquired nine. The two consortiums paid the Brazilian government a total of 844 million reais, equivalent to 134 million euros, for the 19 blocks in this region, despite protests by indigenous delegations in front of the hotel in Rio where the tender took place.

In total, the Brazilian government raised 989 million reais (US$220 million) with the concession of 34 oil blocks, the remaining 15 in the Santos, Pelotas, and Parecis basins, the latter two being new exploration frontiers according to environmentalists.