Reuters, 8/13/2012
Aug 13 (Reuters) – Brazil plans to auction new oil exploration and production rights, but no auction is likely this year, an official with Brazil’s mines and energy ministry told Reuters on Mon day.
“This year is very unlikely,” said Marco Antonio Martins de Almeida, the ministry’s oil, natural gas and renewable fuels secretary. “We need four months to arrange an auction and we are already in August. Or in other words, we are at the limit.”
Brazil, which held annual auctions for a decade starting in 1999, has not sold new rights since 2008, when it moved to increase government power over energy after giant offshore discoveries south of Rio de Janeiro.
