By Jeb Blount
Dec. 18 (Bloomberg) — Brazil plans to begin its 10th annual oil rights auction today as the government of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva considers revising the countrys petroleum rules in the first major overhaul since a state monopoly ended in 1997.
The National Petroleum Agency, known by its Portuguese initials, ANP, plans to sell 130 exploration blocks covering 70,000 square kilometers (27,000 square miles) of onshore areas. The sale is the first to exclude offshore blocks and comes a year after areas near Tupi, the largest discovery in the Americas since 1976, were pulled from last years auction.
Estimates suggesting the so-called pre-salt cluster around Tupi may contain 80 billion barrels of oil, or enough for more than 10 years of U.S. consumption, prompted the government to try to gain more control and increase oil revenue. Tupi, a 5 billion- to 8 billion-barrel field, was announced in November 2007.
This auction is both good news and bad news, said Adriano Pires, head of the Brazilian Infrastructure Center, an energy and transportation research group. On one hand, there is going to be an auction despite resistance. On the other, the entire successful system of Brazilian auctions is under question.
Almost 50 companies have qualified to take part in the two- day auction. Seventeen international companies include U.S.-based Exxon Mobil Corp. and Hess Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the U.K.s BP Plc, and Galp Energia SGPS SA of Portugal. The 30 participating Brazilian companies include Petroleo Brasileiro SA, Brazils state-controlled oil company, and OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes SA.
Rio de Janeiro-based OGX, which bought the largest amount of blocks in the auction in November 2007, plans to consider bidding this year.
Offshore Appeal
Were looking and were studying the blocks on offer, Francisco Gros, OGXs vice chairman and a former chief executive officer of Petrobras, said Dec. 10 at a Standard & Poors event in Rio de Janeiro. The blocks, though, arent the most interesting. Ninety percent of Brazils oil is produced offshore.
Gros would like the Brazilian government, which has delayed releasing its revised oil rules several times in recent months, to announce its decision soon.
Its great to consider changes to Brazils petroleum legislation as long as the changes are made now, and they are favorable to investors, he said. Oil discoveries can pull Brazil out of the mud, help us economically move from the slums to the good side of town.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeb Blount in Rio de Janeiro at[email protected]
Last Updated: December 18, 2008 05:49 EST
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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