Brazil’s largest auction of oil and gas exploration and production blocks in the so-called Pre-Salt Polygon ended with seven of the 13 blocks awarded. The 4th Cycle of the Permanent Production-Sharing Offer was held on Wednesday morning (Oct. 7).

The auction, organized by Brazil’s national oil authority ANP at its headquarters in downtown Rio, brought in BRL 530 million in signing bonuses for the government. Had all blocks been awarded, the total would have reached BRL 1.24 billion.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Auction to offer 23 pre-salt exploration blocks in Brazil.

This was the pre-salt auction with the most blocks awarded. The previous one (3rd Cycle, in 2025) had five areas up for bid. With this result, the exploration area under the production-sharing regime expands by 58 percent to 39,200 km² – some 90 percent of the territory of the state of Rio de Janeiro (43,800 km²).

There were 19 qualified companies, but only six submitted bids, four of which were foreign. There was no competition – in other words, for all seven blocks awarded, there was only one bidder.

The biggest winners were the Brazilian companies Petrobras and Prio (formerly PetroRio), each with two blocks. Norway’s Equinor also secured two blocks, one of them in a consortium with Portugal’s Galp.

To explore the blocks – all located in the Santos and Campos basins off the southeastern coast – the oil companies committed to making minimum investments totaling approximately BRL 778.4 million.

Production-sharing model

Like the signature bonuses, the minimum investment requirements are set forth in the call for bids issued by the ANP, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

In addition to approval from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the exploration areas put up for auction also received the green light from the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change.

In a production-sharing model auction, the winning company is the one that offers the federal government the largest share of surplus oil – the production remaining after costs are paid. The agreement functions as a form of profit-sharing with the Brazilian government.

The call for bids sets a minimum price for each block. The bidding process is confidential regarding the submission of offers – that is, companies do not know in advance what percentage of surplus oil their competitors are offering or in which areas they will bid.

As a result, even though there was no bidding competition for the blocks, all were awarded at a premium ranging from eight to nearly 495 percent. The average premium was 108.38 percent.

Five areas in the Campos Basin (Magnetite, Tourmaline, Hematite, Larimar, and Azurite) and eight in the Santos Basin (Jade, Aragonite, Cruzeiro do Sul, Opal, Garnet, Cerussite, Ruby, and Rhodochrosite) were up for bid.

Here is the list of winners for each block awarded:

Magnetite

• Winner: Prio
• Excess oil percentage: 32.80%
• Premium: 132.79%

Hematite

• Winner: Prio
• Excess oil: 7.18%
• Premium: 315.03%

Azurite

• Winner: Petrobras
• Excess oil: 30%
• Premium: 139.81%

Jade

• Winners: Chinese companies CNOOC (70% of the consortium) and Sinopec (30%).
• Excess oil: 18.20%
• Premium: 65.76%

Cruzeiro do Sul

• Winner: Petrobras
• Excess oil: 15.27%
• Premium: 8.07%

Rubi

• Winner: Norway’s Equinor
• Excess oil: 25.02%
• Premium: 91.72%

Rodocrosita

• Winners: Norway’s Equinor (70% of the consortium) and Portugal’s Galp (30%)
• Excess oil: 15.52%
• Premium: 494.64%

The winning companies must now follow the remaining steps outlined in the schedule – such as submitting documents and paying the signing bonus – so that the contracts can then be signed, which is scheduled to take place on February 26, 2027.

The Turmalina, Larimar, Aragonita, Opala, Granada, and Cerussita blocks were not awarded. They will be carried over to the next bidding round.

Pre-salt

The pre-salt layer lies beneath a thick layer of salt, which can reach depths of up to 7,000 meters. It is currently Brazil’s main production area. In September, for example, it accounted for 82.6 percent of the country’s oil and gas production.

As ANP Director-General Artur Watt Neto stated before the auction began, the pre-salt remains “one of the most significant exploration frontiers in the world.”

“We have to continue working to offer blocks adjacent to the identified opportunities,” he said, referring to the pre-salt as “a great source of wealth for the country.”

New areas

At the start of the production-sharing auction, Renato Dutra, the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s National Secretary for Oil, Natural Gas, and Biofuels, stated that oil is a factor that gives Brazil an advantage on the international stage.

He added that the ministry is working together with the Ministry of the Environment to increase the supply of exploration blocks to “preserve national energy security.”

In the coming months, he noted, the government is expected to make more than 50 exploration blocks available in the Pelotas basin, on the country’s southern coast. The area is also viewed as promising because it has geological characteristics similar to those of the African coast, where oil is produced.

“That’s a possible step forward,” he said.

He reaffirmed the government’s interest in what is known as “unconventional” exploration – fracking. This technique involves injecting a mixture of water, sand, and chemical additives under high pressure to create fractures in rock formations and enable the extraction of fossil fuels.

The proposal faces opposition from environmentalists and is the subject of a case before the Superior Court of Justice.

Brazil’s unemployment rate for the quarter ending in August stood at 5.3 percent, the lowest ever recorded for that period since 2012, when the statistics bureau IBGE began its time series. In addition, the agency reported record highs in the number of employed workers, formal employment, total payroll, and social security contributions.

The unemployment rate for the three-month period through August was down from the rolling three-month average through May (5.6%) and from the same period in 2025 (5.6%). According to the Secretariat of Economic Policy of the Ministry of Finance, the result was in line with market analysts’ expectations.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Unemployment drops to 5.3%, lowest for the quarter ending in July.
• Second quarter has 5.4% unemployment, lowest ever for the period.
• Brazil’s unemployment in quarter ending in May drops to record 5.6%.

The data are part of the Continuous PNAD (National Household Sample Survey), released Tuesday (Sep. 29).

The survey shows that in the quarter ending in August, the employed population reached 103.5 million people – the highest figure ever recorded. This figure represents a 0.8 percent increase compared to the quarter ending in May – that is, an additional 774,000 workers.

The survey also reveals that the economic sectors driving the rise in employment were general manufacturing (a two percent increase, 265,000 more people) and construction (4.1 percent, 306,000 more people).

Formal employment at an all-time high

The number of private-sector employees with formal employment reached 39.5 million, also a record high.

The unemployed population stood at 5.8 million at the end of the period, a 4.6 percent decline (down 281,000) compared to the March–May quarter.

The discouraged labor force – comprising those who do not even look for work because they believe they will not find any – totaled 2.4 million as of August – stable compared to the previous quarter and 11.9 percent lower (317,000 fewer) than the same period in 2025.

Informality – the proportion of informal workers in the employed population – stood at 37.5 percent, representing 38.8 million people. In the previous quarter, it stood at 37.3 percent.

The survey classifies as informal workers those without a formal employment contract, as well as self-employed individuals and employers without a corporate taxpayer ID. These individuals are not guaranteed benefits such as unemployment insurance, paid vacation, and a Christmas bonus.

Record payroll

The average monthly income per worker was BRL 3,777. In the quarter ending in May, it was BRL 3,752. The highest figure on record was BRL 3,783, in the quarter ending in February 2026.

The total payroll – the sum of all workers’ wages, which is ultimately used for consumption, debt repayment, investments, and savings – reached BRL 385.6 billion, the highest on record, with a 1.4 percent growth in the quarter (up BRL 5.2 billion) and a 4.8 percent growth (up BRL 17.5 billion) year-over-year.

Record-high number of social security contributors

According to the study, Brazil has reached the highest number ever recorded of workers contributing to social security institutions – 68.5 million people. This means that out of every 100 workers, 66.2 contribute.

By contributing to social security institutions, workers are entitled to benefits such as retirement, disability, and survivor’s pensions.

The agency defines contributors as employees, employers, domestic workers, and self-employed individuals who have contributed to official federal, state, or municipal social security institutions.

Labor market overview

The survey tracks labor market trends for people aged 14 and older and takes into account all forms of employment – including formal and informal jobs, temporary positions, and self-employment.

According to the research criteria, only those who actively sought a job within 30 days prior to the survey are considered unemployed. The survey visits 211,000 households across all states and the Federal District.

The lowest unemployment rate ever recorded by the PNAD was 5.1 percent, in the last quarter of 2025. The highest rate ever recorded was 14.9 percent, reached in two periods – the rolling quarters ending in September 2020 and March 2021, both during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The preliminary official inflation rate for September stood at 0.70 percent, the highest since April, when it reached 0.89 percent. The result marked a reversal from August’s deflation, when the rate stood at -0.40 percent.

The main reason for the acceleration was the reversal of the Itaipu bonus, a discount consumers received on their electricity bills the previous month.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Brazil’s August inflation comes in -0.32%, lowest in four years.

The data are from the Extended National Consumer Price Index 15 (IPCA-15), released this Friday (Sep. 25) by Brazil’s statistics bureau IBGE.

With this result, the IPCA-15 stands at 4.47 percent for the 12-month period. In August, it was 4.24 percent. In September 2025, the preliminary inflation figure stood at 0.48 percent.

In 2026, the IPCA-15 stands at 3.82 percent. Here is the month-by-month trend in the preliminary inflation rate for the year:

• January: 0.20%

• February: 0.84%

• March: 0.44%

• April: 0.89%

• May: 0.62%

• June: 0.41%

• July: 0.06%

• August: -0.40%

• September: 0.70%

Groups

To arrive at the monthly result, IBGE calculates price changes across nine groups of goods and services. Here’s how the groups performed:

·  Housing: 2.07% (impact of 0.31 percentage points)

·  Personal expenses: 0.96% (0.10 percentage points)

·  Transportation: 0.60% (0.12 percentage points)

·  Household goods: 0.55% (0.02 percentage points)

·  Communication: 0.54% (0.02 percentage points)

·  Clothing: 0.41% (0.02 percentage points)

·  Food and beverages: 0.40% (0.09 percentage points)

·  Health and personal care: 0.13% (0.02 percentage points)

·  Education: 0.03% (0 percentage points)

Itaipu bonus

The increase in the housing category - which exerted the most pressure on the preliminary figure - is explained by the price of residential electricity, which rose 7.42 percent in September, accounting for the index’s largest individual impact (0.29 percentage points). This occurred because electricity bills had fallen 6.25 percent in August, benefiting from the Itaipu Bonus.

The bonus consists of distributing the positive balance of Itaipu’s sales account, a state-owned hydroelectric plant, which is applied as a credit to electricity bills.

In September, since this discount was no longer available, the “normal” electricity bill was compared with the lower August bill, resulting in a larger month-on-month increase. This effect had already been anticipated by IBGE and analysts.

Transportation and fuels

In the Transportation group, the result was influenced by airfare, which rose 9.82 percent.

Fuel prices rose 0.22 percent, with the following price changes:

• Automotive gas: 1.56%
• Gasoline: 0.30%
• Diesel: -0.78%
• Ethanol: -0.22%

Food

In the food and beverage group, the subgroup for food consumed at home rose 0.38 percent in September. In August, a 0.97 percent decline had been recorded.

The largest increases in food consumed at home were:

• Tomatoes: 20.76%
• Rice: 2.39%
• Meat: 1.30%

The most notable decreases were:

• Carioca beans: 6.33%
• Onions: 4.41%
• Ground coffee: 1.36%

Inflation preview

The IPCA-15 uses essentially the same methodology as the IPCA - the so-called “official inflation” measure - which serves as the basis for the government’s inflation-targeting policy: a 3 percent year-over-year rate, with a tolerance margin of 1.5 percentage points on either side.

The difference lies in the price-collection period and geographic coverage. For the preliminary report, the survey is conducted and released before the end of the reference month. For the current release, data were collected from August 15 to September 15.

Both indices are based on a basket of goods and services for households earning from one to 40 minimum wages. Currently, the minimum wage is BRL 1,621.

The IPCA-15 collects prices for 367 products and services (10 fewer than the IPCA) in 11 locations across the country: the metropolitan areas of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte, Recife, São Paulo, Belém, Fortaleza, Salvador, and Curitiba, as well as Brasília and Goiânia. The IPCA covers 16 locations, including Vitória, Campo Grande, Rio Branco, São Luís, and Aracaju.

Last Monday’s (21) Focus Bulletin - a survey by Brazil’s Central Bank of financial market institutions - indicates that the market expects September inflation at 0.52 percent.

Brazil’s forests generated an economic output valued at BRL 47.9 billion in 2025 – the highest figure ever recorded in Brazil, up 6.7 percent from the previous year.

The data cover natural or planted forests and are part of a survey released Thursday (Sep. 24) by the statistics bureau IBGE.

The institute takes into account silviculture – when production comes from planted areas – and extractive activities, which refer to originally natural green areas.

Silviculture soars

Silviculture jumped 8.6 percent from 2024 to 2025, reaching BRL 41 billion. Plant extraction moved in the opposite direction and fell 3.1 percent, totaling BRL 6.9 billion.

In the late 1990s, silviculture and extractive activities alternated as the main drivers of forest production. Since then, however, production from planted areas has skyrocketed, reaching 85.6 percent in 2025, leaving only 14.4 percent for plant extraction.

The survey notes that, since 2019, the economic value of silviculture has grown by 165 percent. According to the institute, this is due to technological advances. In 2025, planted forests totaled 10.4 million hectares (104,000 km²).
 

Eucalyptus and cellulose

Of this area, 78.6 percent is planted with eucalyptus, a fast-growing tree maturing in about seven to eight years, used primarily in the manufacture of cellulose, a key raw material for paper production.

Brazil’s silviculture makes the country the world’s largest producer and exporter of cellulose, a position it has held since 2022, when it surpassed Canada.

The study also reports that Brazil’s global prominence is driven by climatic conditions and soil that are favorable to rapid forest growth, as well as “investments in sustainable practices, which make it highly competitive in the international market.”

In 2025, Brazil produced 22.2 million metric tons of cellulose, 12.7 percent more than in the previous year.

In terms of value, the figure was USD 10.2 billion – a 3.9 percent decline over the past year. As a commodity, the price of cellulose is directly influenced by the global market.

The IBGE explains that prices fell due to “global oversupply, a slowdown in Chinese consumption and the resulting increase in inventories, and exchange rate factors, such as the appreciation of the real.”

Cellulose was Brazil’s eighth-largest export in 2025. The top three exports, in order, were petroleum, soybeans, and iron ore.

Food products

The report also found that food products accounted for BRL 2.2 billion in production value.

Half of this amount came from açaí (251,000 metric tons), with two-thirds of this production (66.7%) coming from the Northern state of Pará.

Yerba mate ranked second among non-timber products, with BRL 562.3 million. Of all the yerba mate harvested in the country, 88.4 percent came from the state of Paraná, in South Brazil.

Petrobras announced on Wednesday (Sep. 23) that it had signed a memorandum of understanding for strategic cooperation in the oil and gas sector in Mozambique, a country on the southeast coast of Africa.

The agreement was signed with the National Hydrocarbons Company (ENH), the Mozambican government’s commercial arm for oil and gas exploration, production, processing, marketing, and distribution.

Notícias relacionadas:

• Petrobras to explore for oil off equatorial margin of Côte d’Ivoire.
• Petrobras boasts highest profit margin among world’s top oil giants.
• Petrobras negotiates oil exploration in Ghana.

Among the document’s objectives are joint efforts in studies, evaluation, development, and marketing, as well as the exchange of knowledge and technical expertise. The agreement is valid for two years and may be extended.

Focus on natural gas

Mozambique, a country with a population of about 30 million, shares with Brazil the legacy of having been a Portuguese colony, which explains why the two countries speak the same language.

According to the National Petroleum Institute of Mozambique, a state agency, the country stands out as a major source of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Foreign companies are already operating in the country, including France’s TotalEnergies, US-based ExxonMobil, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Italy’s Eni, Portugal’s Galp, and South Africa’s Sasol.

Petrobras in Africa

This week’s move marks another step by Petrobras toward strengthening its presence on the African continent.

The state-owned company operates in Ivory Coast, Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe, and South Africa. In August 2026, it began negotiations for exploration blocks in Ghana, on the west coast of Africa.

This expansion into Africa marks a return to the region. In the early 2000s, the company operated in countries such as Nigeria, Tanzania, Angola, Benin, Gabon, and Namibia, but those stakes were later sold.

In addition to Brazil and Africa, Petrobras operates in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, and the United States.