ANP to publish list of round 7 blocks in March

Brazil's national hydrocarbon regulator ANP will publish in March the list of blocks it will offer in the seventh hydrocarbon licensing round tender scheduled for October, ANP said in a statement Wednesday. The agency will hold public hearings in February and at the end of August it will publish the final versions of bidding rules and concession contracts, ANP said. ANP is currently concluding studies in 34 sectors in the offshore regions of 10 basins and in the onshore regions of seven basins for the tender. It is also analyzing 23 small onshore finds in marginal fields that it plans to tender. The fields are located in the Sergipe-Alagoas, Recôncavo, Tucano Sul and Camamu basins. The federal government's national energy policy council (CNPE) determined that the seventh licensing round should concentrate on areas thought to contain gas. The number of blocks to be offered this year should be similar to that of Round 6 in August 2004, when the government offered 913 blocks.