Research says oil giants got best possible outcome on Brazil sale
BRAZIL’S sale of production rights to develop the offshore Libra oil field to a consortium including Royal Dutch Shell “is a more positive outcome for both the participating majors and for [Brazilian state oil company] Petrobas than we had feared”, Deutsche Bank analysts said yesterday.
In Monday’s auction, Petrobas took a 40 per cent stake in the field, France’s Total and Anglo-Dutch firm Royal Dutch Shell will each have 20 per cent, while China National Petroleum Corp and China’s CNOOC will each have 10 per cent.
“The consequence is that the government share of profit oil will be 41.65 per cent – the lowest possible under the terms of the licensing process,” said the research.
The auction attracted controversy, as protesters called it a sell-out of national resources to foreign firms.