Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

It is an administrative process that requests authorization for the assignment of an agreement (transfer of contractual rights and obligations between companies), as well as for the execution of merger, spin-off, and incorporation acts, change of operator, and replacement or waiver of performance guarantee.

The assignment of oil and natural gas exploration and production agreements is provided for in Article 29 of Law No. 9,478, of August 6, 1997, and in Article 31 of Law No. 12,351, of December 22, 2010.

The assignment process will be coordinated by the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence (SPL), under the terms of ANP Resolution No. 785, of May 17, 2019, and ANP Ordinance No. 132, of July 8, 2022, and will follow the procedure described in the Assignment Procedure Manual, available on the Agreement Assignment Procedure page.

The assignment process must be initiated by the interested party through the Electronic Information System – SEI, according to the instructions in the Assignment Procedure Manual.

The Agreement Assignment page contains the document submission format, the procedural steps, the list of documents required to open the process, and other requirements and information related to the assignment.

Assignees must comply with the qualification requirements set forth in the most recently approved tender protocol by the ANP Collegiate Board prior to the submission of the assignment request, according to the object of the agreement for which assignment authorization is being requested.

Interested companies may resolve any doubts regarding the qualification requirements set forth in the tender protocol by sending an email to edital_opc@anp.gov.br or edital_opp@anp.gov.br, depending on the tender protocol.

Check the current tender protocols of the Open Acreage of Concession and the Open Acreage of Production Sharing.

Under ANP Resolution No. 785/2019, ANP has 90 days to issue an opinion on the approval or rejection of the request, counted from the submission of complete and compliant documentation.

In the case of a production sharing agreement, ANP has the same deadline to issue a recommendation to the Federal Government, which shall decide on the request within sixty (60) days from receipt of the recommendation.

Delays in the assignment process may occur due to submission of non-compliant documents, so it is essential that interested parties follow the Assignment Procedure Manual and the most recently approved tender protocol prior to submission.

The assignment only becomes effective with the signing of the respective contractual amendment, which must occur within thirty (30) days after the assignment’s approval.

Under ANP Resolution No. 785/2019, the assignment becomes effective and enforceable upon signing the amendment to the E&P agreement.

Concession and production sharing agreements require concessionaires and contractors to notify ANP of any changes to their incorporation documents (bylaws or articles of incorporation) and changes in officers within thirty (30) days of their filing with the competent Board of Trade.

In the case of a change in corporate control or the exit of the concessionaire or contractor from the corporate group to which it originally belonged, ANP Resolution No. 785/2019 requires the notification to be accompanied by:

I - corporate acts or, in the case of joint stock companies, documents reflecting the change in corporate control;

II - an organizational chart detailing the entire control chain of the corporate group, financial statements for the last fiscal year, and a technical summary, as per the most recently approved tender protocol prior to submission; and

III - a final approval decision by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), under Law No. 12.529, of November 30, 2011, along with its publication in the Federal Official Gazette (DOU), or justification for its absence.

If participation in the E&P agreement is secured by a performance guarantee and the change in corporate control or exit from the group breaks the corporate link between the guaranteed party and guarantor, an assignment process must be initiated for replacing the performance guarantee as per ANP Resolution No. 785/2019.

Clarifications regarding assignment processes must be requested via the email rodadas@anp.gov.br.

To optimize service, it is recommended that the applicant consult the Assignment Procedure Manual beforehand.

Information on the progress of ongoing assignment processes will only be provided to the accredited representatives of the assignor and assignee.

The Open Acreage is the main bidding modality for oil and natural gas exploration and production in Brazil, established according to the guidelines of the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE), through Resolution No. 17/2017.
Unlike traditional bidding rounds, this model allows the continuous offering of exploration blocks and areas with marginal accumulations, located in onshore or offshore basins.
The granting of rights for the performance of activities is done under the concession and production sharing regimes. Blocks located in the pre-salt area or strategic areas, under the production sharing regime, are reserved for specific deliberation by the CNPE, with the definition of parameters for each block to be tendered.

Each cycle of the Open Acreage comprises all activities necessary for holding the public session for submission of offers for the sectors or blocks subject to a declaration of interest and will also include the qualification of the winning bidders of the public session, the award of the bidding object, the homologation of the result, and the signing of the agreements.
For a cycle to occur, a bidding company must declare interest in a sector (for the concession regime) or a block (for the production sharing regime), among those available in the tender protocol, and submit a bid guarantee in the minimum amount established in the tender protocol.
The schedule, to be established by the Bidding Round Special Commission (CEL) for each cycle of the Open Acreage, will observe a minimum period of 120 days and a maximum of 180 days between the approval of the first declaration of interest and the date of the public session for submission of offers.

The available exploration blocks and areas with marginal accumulations can be consulted in Annex I of the Open Acreage tender protocols and are also published on specific pages.

• Check the current tender protocols of the Open Acreage of Concession and the Open Acreage of Production Sharing.
• Click here to consult the blocks of the Open Acreage of Production Sharing.
• Click here to consult the blocks of the Open Acreage of Concession.
• Click here to consult the areas with marginal accumulations of the Open Acreage of Concession.

The company interested in participating in the bidding must register individually for each of the contracting regimes it wishes to participate in, and for this, must:

* Fill in the online registration form, and
* Submit to ANP the registration documents provided for in the tender protocol.

Maintaining the status of bidder in the Open Acreage is subject to the annual update of registration documents as established in the tender protocol. In the case of a consortium, all consortium members must register and update their documents individually.

The registration request will be judged by the Bidding Round Special Commission (CEL) within fifteen (15) business days, extendable for an equal period, counted from the date of submission of complete documentation, as established in the tender protocol for each contracting regime.
After the CEL approves the registration, the interested party will obtain the status of bidder and will be included in the list of bidders of the corresponding Open Acreage contracting regime.
Annually, ANP will publish a list of Open Acreage bidders for each contracting regime on the specific bidding website, based on CEL’s assessment of the registration and of the document update requests.

Only those bidders included in the most recent list of bidders of the corresponding Open Acreage contracting regime may participate in a cycle.
The status of active bidder in the Open Acreage is subject to the annual update, in June of each year, of registration documents or the submission of a declaration stating that the previously submitted documents remain up to date as per the tender protocol.

The company will have its registration suspended and be excluded from the list of active bidders in the Open Acreage.

However, it can regularize its status at any time by submitting updated registration documents or a declaration attesting that the previously submitted documents remain valid.
If a cycle is underway and the company with a suspended registration wishes to participate, the update may be made within the deadline set by CEL in the respective cycle’s schedule.

Registration for the Open Acreage is continuous and can occur at any time. Even after a cycle is opened, companies interested in participating in that cycle who are not included in the latest published list of Open Acreage bidders by ANP may register or update their documents.

No. The qualification stage takes place after the public session for submission of offers, with only the winning bidders of the public session and any affiliates indicated for agreement signing, if applicable, being subject to qualification.
Qualification involves analyzing documentation to verify the bidder’s legal, tax, and labor regularity, economic-financial capacity, and technical capacity and is related to a bidding process in progress or an assignment process.

Only bidders with active registration, included in the most recent list of Open Acreage bidders, under ANP Resolution No. 969/2024, in the corresponding contracting regime, may submit a declaration of interest.
Bidders included in the most recent list of Open Acreage bidders may submit declarations of interest at any time.

If no cycle is underway, the documents will be analyzed and may trigger the opening of a new cycle. If a cycle is ongoing, bidders must observe the schedule established by CEL to participate in that cycle.
Submitting a declaration of interest after the deadlines set in the cycle’s schedule will result in the opening of a new cycle after the public session for submission of offers of the current cycle.

CEL will disclose, according to the date stipulated in the current cycle schedule, the sectors (in the case of OPC) or blocks (in the case of OPP) for which declarations of interest have been submitted and will be on offer in the public session of the cycle. However, for confidentiality reasons, the corporate names of the bidders who submitted declarations will not be disclosed.
The declaration of interest indicates the commercial strategy of the bidders in bidding rounds. If this information were disclosed, it could compromise the competition in the process.
The interest of the bidders in the exploratory blocks or areas will only be known during the public session for submission of offers, when the offers are processed, and results are announced.

No. There is no need to present any document indicating that the bidder will participate in a consortium. ANP will only know if the bidder will participate individually or in a consortium during the public session for submission of offers, as this information will be contained in the envelope holding the bid.
The declaration of interest must always be accompanied by a bid guarantee in the minimum amount indicated in the tender protocol for each sector/block of declared interest.

Declarations of interest, in accordance with the template in the current tender protocol, may be submitted in hard copy or issued digitally and signed with a digital certificate, and must be sent to the e-mail garantias.rodadas@anp.gov.br.

Bid guarantees may be submitted in hard copy or in digital format, provided they are signed with an ICP-Brasil digital certificate, and must be sent to the e-mail garantias.rodadas@anp.gov.br. In cases where they are in hard copy, the originals must be sent to ANP Central Office or delivered to ANP’s Protocol Office, to the attention of the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence (SPL).

Yes. Bidders with active registration, included in the most recent list of bidders of the Open Acreage, may submit a bid guarantee without having previously submitted a declaration of interest for a cycle in progress. However, it is essential to note that a bidder that has only submitted the bid guarantee may only submit a bid in a consortium with a bidder that has submitted a declaration of interest. This measure seeks to expand the possibilities for forming consortia, providing greater flexibility to companies in forming partnerships throughout the bidding process.

The Offer Generator Program (GEOF) is made available by ANP approximately one month prior to the date set for the public session of the ongoing cycle.

The qualification of companies is a requirement for bidders participating in ANP bidding rounds and for participants in agreement assignment processes. It is a mandatory step prior to signing concession and production sharing agreements for carrying out oil and natural gas exploration, rehabilitation, and production activities.
The qualification process involves analyzing the documentation of interested companies to verify:
a) legal, tax, and labor regularity;
b) economic-financial capacity; and
c) technical capacity.

The qualification process is conducted by the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence (SPL).

The qualification process, as provided for in ANP’s Internal Regulations, occurs in the following situations:
(i) participation of bidders in ANP bidding rounds; or
(ii) participation of assignee companies in the assignment of oil and natural gas exploration and production agreements.

Therefore, only companies participating in the processes listed above and, as a result, which will become signatories to concession and production sharing agreements for carrying out oil and natural gas exploration, rehabilitation, and production activities can be qualified.

Companies participating in bidding rounds must comply with the qualification requirements set forth in the tender protocol governing the round in which they are participating.
Companies participating in agreement assignment processes must comply with the qualification requirements set forth in the most recently approved tender protocol by ANP’s Collegiate Board prior to the submission of the assignment request, according to the object of the agreement for which assignment authorization was requested.
Check the current tender protocols of the Open Acreage of Concession and the Open Acreage of Production Sharing.

Companies participating in bidding rounds must follow the procedures detailed in the tender protocol.
Interested companies may clarify any doubts regarding the qualification requirements provided in the tender protocol by sending an email to edital_opc@anp.gov.br or edital_opp@anp.gov.br, depending on the tender protocol in question.

Assignee companies must comply with the qualification requirements provided in the most recently approved tender protocol by ANP’s Collegiate Board prior to the submission of the assignment request, according to the object of the agreement for which assignment authorization was requested.
Interested companies may clarify any doubts regarding the qualification requirements provided in the tender protocol by sending an email to edital_opc@anp.gov.br or edital_opp@anp.gov.br, depending on the tender protocol in question.

Check the current tender protocols of the Open Acreage of Concession and the Open Acreage of Production Sharing.

No. It is not possible to obtain prior qualification unrelated to participation in a bidding round or an ongoing E&P agreement assignment process at ANP.
Any interested company not fitting the qualification hypotheses may examine the requirements set forth in the tender protocol and clarify any doubts about its content by sending an email to edital_opc@anp.gov.br or edital_opp@anp.gov.br, depending on the tender protocol.

Yes. Qualification is granted for a specific bidding round or E&P agreement assignment process and cannot be used for other rounds or assignments.
The documents submitted for registration and qualification are processed in specific and individualized administrative procedures, forming the company’s record at ANP. Valid documents contained in this record, according to rules defined in the tender protocol, may be used for qualification in future bidding rounds or E&P agreement assignment processes, upon request by the interested company.

Therefore, there is the possibility of using valid documents from the company’s record, which does not constitute prior qualification before ANP.

For the purposes of E&P tender protocols, a corporate group is the set of legal entities linked by a common, direct or indirect, control relationship.

The corporate group organizational chart is a document produced by the interested party detailing the entire control chain of its corporate group, indicating the respective percentage of voting shares or quotas held by each legal entity within that group, as well as by each person controlling those legal entities.

Yes. Any such conditions must be met in advance, including joint director signatures, express authorization from partners or the Board of Directors for certain acts, including agreement signing, among other conditions set forth in the bylaws/articles of incorporation that may limit or prevent participation in bidding rounds and E&P agreement assignment processes, or the exercise of powers by their officers/legal representatives.

The performance guarantee is a document through which a legal entity, either a direct or indirect controller or parent company, fully guarantees the contractual obligations undertaken by the signatory company within its corporate group.
The performance guarantee will be required from the bidder or assignee, exclusively as operator, when it has not demonstrated its own experience in oil and natural gas exploration and production activities and is qualified technically through the experience of its corporate group.
The performance guarantee must be submitted in the form provided in the tender protocol and must be accompanied by:

(i) corporate documents of the company providing the guarantee; and
(ii) an organizational chart explaining the relationship between the guarantor legal entity and the E&P agreement signatory.

Clarifications about the qualification process must be requested via email to edital_opc@anp.gov.br or edital_opp@anp.gov.br, depending on the contracting regime related to the qualification.

To optimize service, it is recommended that the applicant consult the tender protocol beforehand.

Check the current tender protocols of the Open Acreage of Concession and the Open Acreage of Production Sharing.

Information about the progress of ongoing qualification processes will only be provided to accredited representatives.

The bidding rounds are auctions through which the Federal Government grants the right to perform oil and natural gas exploration and production (E&P) activities in Brazil, by signing agreements under the concession or production sharing regimes, according to Law No. 9,478, of August 6, 1997.
There are two modalities of ANP bidding rounds: the specific bidding round and the Open Acreage system.

The specific bidding round is a tender aimed at granting the exercise of exploration, rehabilitation, and production activities in specific blocks not included in the Open Acreage system and defined according to rules established by the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE).

The Open Acreage system is a continuous offering system for granting the exercise of exploration, rehabilitation, and production activities established according to guidelines from the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE). In this model, companies notify ANP when they are ready to submit their offers by presenting a declaration of interest. Companies have as much time as they deem necessary to study the technical data of those areas before making an offer, without the limited deadline of a specific round's tender protocol.

Currently, the Open Acreage is the main bidding modality for oil and natural gas exploration and production in Brazil, established according to CNPE Resolution No. 17/2017.

ANP bidding rounds are based on Article 177 of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil of 1988, on Law No. 9,478, of August 6, 1997, on Law No. 12,351, of December 22, 2010, and on CNPE Resolutions.

ANP Resolution No. 969, of May 16, 2024, regulates the procedures to be adopted in tenders for granting the exercise of exploration, rehabilitation, and production activities under the concession and production sharing regimes.

For bidding rounds (cycles) under the Open Acreage system, the schedule for each cycle is approved by the Bidding Round Special Commission (CEL) for each contracting regime. For more details about Open Acreage cycles, consult the Open Acreage section of this page.

For specific bidding rounds, it is the responsibility of the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE) to authorize them and define the exploratory blocks or areas with marginal accumulations to be offered in the tenders.

Once a specific bidding round is authorized, ANP publishes the tender's pre-tender protocol containing the indicative schedule.

Companies participating in bidding rounds must follow the procedures detailed in the tender protocol. Interested companies may clarify any doubts about the qualification requirements provided in the tender protocol by sending an email to edital_opc@anp.gov.br or edital_opp@anp.gov.br, depending on the tender protocol.

For more information on the qualification process, see the Qualification Process section on this page.

Interested parties must contact the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence (SPL) via the email rodadas@anp.gov.br, providing the name of the block/field or the agreement/process number they wish to access.

The request will be evaluated according to the confidentiality level of the requested documents. Then, the procedure for providing the documents in digital format will be informed.

Exceptionally, access to documents in person may be requested, subject to payment of a Federal Government Payment Form (GRU) and prior scheduling.

ANP participates in the National Electronic Process (PEN) project and has implemented the Electronic Information System (SEI) for managing electronic processes.

One of its primary features is the reduction of paper use as a physical medium for institutional documents and the sharing of information with updates and communication of new events in real-time. This initiative promotes time and resource savings and offers greater security, transparency, and agility in the processing of procedures.

The processing procedures related to bidding rounds and E&P agreement assignments at ANP are carried out through SEI. Interested parties can submit documents electronically, consult processes, and monitor their progress in the electronic system.

The first step to using SEI is to register as an external user. This registration is intended for individuals, regardless of their connection to a legal entity.
To register in ANP's SEI, access the Electronic Process (SEI) page (in Portuguese). The supporting document for registration is the External User Manual, also available on the page.

The registration will allow electronic document submission. However, physical submission remains possible, and ANP's protocol units will continue operating regularly.

The interested party must contact the Licensing Rounds Promotion Superintendence (SPL) via email rodadas@anp.gov.br, providing the name of the block/field or the agreement/process number they wish to access.

The request will be evaluated according to the confidentiality level of the requested documents. Then, the procedure for providing the documents in digital format will be informed to the interested party.

Exceptionally, access to documents in person may be requested, subject to payment of a Federal Government Payment Form (GRU) and prior scheduling.

The external user receives an email from rodadas@anp.gov.br informing that external access to a specific electronic process has been granted, with a link provided to enable access.

Alternatively, it is possible to log in as an external user to view the processes to which external access has been granted in the External Access Control tab in SEI-ANP. In either form of access, interim submission will be available.

Processes classified as public can be accessed and searched in the ANP SEI Public Search.

After opening the public search page, enter the process number, verification code, and click search. On the results page, click on the process number to view the filed documents.

Although administrative processes are classified as public, some documents filed in these processes may be unavailable for public consultation as they are classified with some access restriction, in accordance with the Access to Information Law and the General Data Protection Law.

If the interest refers to consulting public (ostensive) documents that are part of a restricted process, the request must be made through ANP's customer service channel.

Only users designated as accredited representatives, by power of attorney, will have full access to the specific processes of the company with SPL, such as registration and qualification processes. Bidders, through their legal representatives, may request access for third parties to the processes in which they are a party.