OREANDA-NEWS. April 16, 2018. Brazilian state-owned pre-salt marketing firm PPSA in mid-May plans to auction four one-year contracts covering around 2.8mn bl of pre-salt crude.

PPSA is accepting comments on the draft notice through 24 April, the company said today.

The final notice is scheduled for publication on 4 May and the public auction, the company's first, is tentatively scheduled for 16 May on the Sao Paulo stock exchange B3.

The contracts to be offered in four separate lots cover an estimated 1.6mn bl of 29°API crude from the Mero field, the first commercial discovery in the Libra block; 120,000 bl of 30°API crude from the Sapinhoa field; 600,000 bl 28°API from the Lula field; and 480,000 bl of 27°API crude from the Tartaruga Verde field.

Firms registered in Brazil can participate on their own or in consortiums. Foreign firms and investment funds must be part of consortiums with local partners.

Winning firms will be selected based on the best differential proposal on the reference price (Argus or Platts) set by oil regulator ANP.