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Brazil announces oil auctions to raise $4.9 bn
January 24, 2013, 9:17 am

A Brazilian owned oil rig. [AP]

A Brazilian owned oil rig. [AP]

Brazil has announced an expansion of oil auctions which would raise as much as 10 billion reais ($4.9 billion) for the government’s auction revenue.

President Dilma Rousseff recently ordered new exploration blocks to be added to the auction – the first oil exploration auction since 2008.

The auctions could bring fresh cheer to an ailing oil industry in Brazil without new sales of exploration acreage.

Marco Antonio Almeida, the secretary of oil and natural gas at the Energy Ministry, told reporters in Brasilia today that Brazil will auction 289 licenses onshore and off the coast of northeastern Brazil on 14-15 May.

Brazil also plans to auction areas in the “pre-salt region” that holds the country’s largest deposits on the 28-29 November and shale onshore gas blocks on 11-12 December, he said.

Source: Agencies