Companies participating in Brazil’s gigantic offering of pre-salt oil and gas resources on 6 November will be able to work to an 18-month time limit for reaching a unitisation-style agreement with current operator Petrobras, writes Gareth Chetwynd.

Production rights for between 6 billion and 10 billion barrels of low-risk pre-salt oil and gas resources are up for sale at four fields located in the same area where Petrobras was granted the right to produce 5 billion barrels of oil under a 2010 Transfer of Rights (ToR) agreement.