PETROBRAS has pledged to spend $6 billion in exploration activities over the next five years - a commitment the company is taking seriously after securing extra acreage in Brazil's final bid round under the administration of the country's former president Jair Bolsonaro. Even though it faced competition, Petrobras used its preferential rights to take operatorship of the Agua Marinha pre-salt area, while also bringing home the North of Brava and Southwest of Sagitario blocks. The Brazilian National Petroleum Agency (ANP) sold only four of the 11 blocks available in the round, but director general Rodolfo Saboia praised the final outcome, saying the areas with the greatest hydrocarbon potential were the object of interest. "We guaranteed minimum investments of 1.44 billion reais ($276.9 million), which will result in economic activity, jobs and income for Brazilians," Saboia added. Andre Fagundes, vice president at consultancy Welligence Energy, says the involvement of large international oil companies such as TotalEnergies and Shell was encouraging, but pointed out that most of the acreage awarded was lower risk, including areas with extensions of existing discoveries.
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