Brazil's oil and gas regulator ANP is inviting companies to carry out sedimentary studies of the Pernambuco-Paraíba basin off the coast of the country's northeastern region to look for oil and gas.
So far, 16 companies are reported to have shown interest in the prospecting contract. Under the bidding rules, companies have to collect 400 samples from an area of 50,000 sq. km. at water depths to 3,000 m. A preliminary study by the federal university of Rio Grande do Norte indicated an 80% chance of finding oil and gas reserves in the region
Geologists involved in previous studies believe that blocks from the Pernambuco-Paraíba basin could be included in the seventh round of oil and gas exploration bidding scheduled for 2005. In the fourth bidding round in 2002, ANP offered the 3,500-sq-km BM-PEPB-1 block, which was not sold.