LatinNews Daily - 29 March 2018

*The Tribunal de Contas da União (TCU), Brazil’s federal financial ombudsman, has ordered that two oil exploration areas be excluded from the current auction of oil concessions contracts due to be awarded by the Brazilian government on 29 March. The government is auctioning 70 concessions to explore for hydrocarbons in onshore and offshore areas in Brazilian territory. Some 20 local and foreign firms have taken part in the auction. But on the eve of the opening of bids, the TCU ordered that blocs S-M-534 and S-M-645, which are located in the deep water of the Campos basin off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, be excluded from the auction. The TCU said that its decision answered to the fact that it did not believe that the terms of the proposed 30-year concessions for these two areas were in the national interest. TCU said that it believed that the Brazilian state could obtain higher profits if the blocs are exploited under an association model under which private firms must share a part of their profits with the Brazilian state.

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