Yesterday, Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) attempted to auction off 172 exploratory oil blocks. Spread across five sedimentary basins (Foz do Amazonas, Santos, Pelotas, Potiguar, and Parecis), the auction covered an area of 145,600 km2 – a territory larger than Nicaragua.
In the end, only 34 blocks, or 20% of the total offering, received bids from 9 companies, hinting at low market interest in the auction. The Foz do Amazonas Basin contained most of the awarded blocks – 19 in total – reigniting environmental debates and mobilizing civil society organizations.
Distribution of awarded blocks
Foz do Amazonas: 19 out of 47 blocks offered (40%)
Santos: 11 out of 54 blocks (20%)
Pelotas: 3 out of 34 blocks (9%)
Parecis: 1 out of 21 blocks (5%)
Potiguar: no blocks awarded
Winning companies
Nine companies secured blocks: Chevron, Karoon, ExxonMobil, Petrobras, Shell, Dillianz, Equinor, CNPC, andPetrogal. The total signing bonus collected reached BRL 989.2 million (USD 179.8 million).
For more information on the auction outcomes, see Arayara International Institute’s analysis here.
All eyes on the Foz do Amazonas Basin
The main area of dispute was the Foz do Amazonas Basin, located in the state of Amapá. With 19 blocks awarded, the area granted for exploration expanded from 5,700 km2 to 21,900 km2. This is the first time since 2003 that the Brazilian government offers up oil blocks in the region, which is considered one of the most socio-environmentally sensitive in the country.
"While Brazil prepares to host COP30 in 2025 – a historic opportunity to reaffirm its commitments to international climate agreements and human rights, especially those of Indigenous peoples – the auctioned oil and gas exploration rights run contrary to those commitments,” warns Nicole Figueiredo de Oliveira, Executive Director of the Arayara International Institute.
Silver linings
Although the auction went ahead, Brazilian civil society can also celebrate meaningful victories. None of the blocks overlapping with Direct Influence Areas (AID) of Indigenous Lands were auctioned off, and no blocks were sold in the Potiguar Basin — an area of high ecological importance, including the surroundings of the Fernando de Noronha UNESCO World Heritage Site. Of the 118 blocks Arayara identified as contentious, only 23 were auctioned off, representing an 80.5% success rate for the socio-environmental movement.
Klara Butz, Finance Campaigner at Urgewald, comments: "Only a small part of the intended exploration areas could be auctioned also thanks to massive pressure and resistance from Brazilian civil society. The nine oil and gas companies involved bear responsibility for massive environmental destruction in this highly sensitive region. The auction is further proof of how willingly big oil and gas companies throw responsibility to the wind for the sake of short-term profit. These companies and their financiers must accept that there is no way forward for them amid ever intensifying droughts, wildfires, storm surges and rising sea levels. The only answer is: A full-stop to oil and gas expansion."
Indigenous people in peril
According to Oliveira, Brazil cannot claim global leadership in climate diplomacy while expanding fossil fuel projects without community dialogue, scientific grounding, or guarantees of social and environmental justice. “Climate justice must, above all, be justice for Indigenous peoples. Without the forest peoples, there is no possible future for the planet,”she concludes.
Oliveira further regrets that ANP ignored Arayara’s numerous attempts at dialogue prior to the auction. The institute filed official letters and requested meetings to ensure that the voices of impacted communities would be heard. Indigenous leaders and representatives from affected territories even traveled to Rio de Janeiro to attend the auction and demand institutional recognition – with no response from the agency.
The lack of prior, free, and informed consultation – as required by the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (Nr. 169) of the International Labor Organization (ILO), to which Brazil is a signatory – constitutes a grave human rights violation. It reflects the Brazilian government’s systematic failure to uphold the rights of traditional peoples, as mandated by international law.
For pictures from the protests against the auction in Rio de Janeiro (credit: Arayara International Institute), click here.
