CNOOC-Sinopec consortium wins Brazil’s Jade block with 18.20% excess-oil share
Key Facts
CNOOC Petroleum and Sinopec won the Jade block in Brazil’s Santos Basin in a production-sharing auction held by the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels on October 7, 2026. The agency said 7 of the 13 blocks on offer were awarded in the fourth round of the Permanent Offer program. The auction result grants the companies rights to the block, but does not mean production will begin immediately. According to the agency, CNOOC Petroleum will lead the project with a 70% stake, while Sinopec holds 30%. These stakes put the Chinese company in the role of operator, with Sinopec participating in development under the contract terms.
The consortium pledged 18.20% of excess oil to Brazil, along with a signing bonus of 20.9 million dollars, according to S&P Global. This percentage determines the state’s share of oil remaining after project costs are recovered under the production-sharing system. The agency says the company or consortium offering the highest share of excess oil above the minimum set in the auction documents wins the block. S&P Global said the companies agreed to the signing bonus in exchange for development rights to Jade. The deal therefore combines an operating stake led by CNOOC, an initial financial commitment and an offer of a share of excess production for Brazil.
Jade is located east of the Libra block, which includes the Mero field, according to an S&P Global report. This location places the block near one of the known producing fields in the Santos Basin, but does not in itself provide evidence of Jade’s reserve size or production timeline. The auction results covered 7 blocks, with total signing bonuses of 530,466,522.04 Brazilian reais, according to the agency. The agency also estimated the minimum planned investment in the contracts’ initial exploration phase at 778,426,200 Brazilian reais. These figures cover all seven blocks, not the Jade deal alone.
The agency said all blocks awarded received bids above the minimum excess-oil share set in the offer documents. The average premium over the minimum was 108.38% in the auction, while the Rodocrosite block recorded the highest premium at 494.64%. These results reflect differences among bids according to each block and its terms, and do not represent Jade’s specific percentage. The number of exploration blocks under the production-sharing system also rose from 13 to 22 after the results, according to the agency. The increase adds 9 blocks to exploration under the system.
The October round’s results reflect an expansion in Brazil’s exploration and production portfolio in recent years, according to a presentation by the agency. The number of contracted exploration and production blocks reached 431 after the October 2026 rounds, compared with 312 contracts in 2016. In the previous production-sharing round, held in October 2025, 5 of the 7 blocks on offer were awarded. The CNOOC Petroleum-Sinopec consortium then won the Amethyst block in the Santos Basin, with stakes of 70% and 30%, respectively, and CNOOC as operator. Signing bonuses in that round totaled 103,728,181.09 Brazilian reais, while investment in the first phase was estimated at 451,498,600 Brazilian reais.
The deal still requires completion of post-auction requirements before contracts can be signed. The agency said the winners must submit documents and pay the signing bonuses, with contracts scheduled to be signed by February 26, 2027. This date sets the consortium’s next contractual step after winning the block at auction. China’s October trade data, reported by Caixin, remains separate economic context: the publication attributed continued export growth partly to shipments linked to artificial intelligence, alongside a sharp slowdown in car exports. Sources did not link this trade development to the companies’ decision to enter the Brazilian auction.