- Equinor (EQNR +2.5%) and Exxon Mobil (XOM +1.1%) are the most aggressive major oil companies at today's auction of Brazil's pre-salt offshore oil blocks, snapping up stakes despite renewed concerns about political meddling in the country’s energy sector.
- A consortium of EQNR, XOM and Petroleos de Portugal won the largest block with a $679M signing bonus plus 75.4% of profit oil - more than 3x the minimum bid - for the Uirapuru block in the Santos Basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro; Brazil's Petrobras (PBR -5.7%) exercised its right to be the operating partner, with a 30% share of the consortium.
- XOM, one of the few oil majors without stakes in Brazil’s pre-salt geology until late last year, now owns stakes in 25 Brazilian blocks after the auction.
- Other winning bids came from the likes of Chevron (CVX +2.9%), BP (LON:BP) (BP +2%) and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) (RDS.A +1.3%).
- Brazil’s cash-strapped government collected 3.15B reais ($800M) in fixed signing bonuses at the auction.
- Now read: Exxon Loses An Enemy
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