BRASILIA, Brazil, Oct. 22 (UPI) - Royal Dutch Shell (
NYSE:RDS.B,
Stock Forum) confirmed it was a member of a consortium securing the rights to develop the Libra oil field off the coast of Brazil.
Shell, French energy company Total (
NYSE:TOT,
Stock Forum), China National Petroleum Corp., China National Offshore Oil Corp., and state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro (
NYSE:PBR,
Stock Forum), known also as Petrobras, won a 35-year production sharing contract for the Libra filed in the Santos Basin off the coat of Brazil.
Petrobras serves as the operator with a 40 percent stake in the consortium. The Chinese companies each hold a 10 percent stake and the remainder are divided between Shell and Total.
Peter Voser, Shell's chief executive officer, said in a statement Monday the Libra field is one of the largest deep water oil deposits in the world. The Brazilian government estimates the field holds at least 8 billion barrels of oil.
Petrobras said the winning consortium is expected to hand over $6.8 billion in a signature bonus to the government in a single payment. It said the production sharing contract calls for four-year exploration phase for the Libra field.
Oil workers with Petrobras were on strike last week to protest the auction. They wanted better wages and opposed a congressional measure for outsourcing of workers by Petrobras.