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PHOTO FILE: A logo of the Brazilian oil company Petrobras is visible in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on March 25, 2019. REUTERS / Sergio Moraes
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Brazilian oil group Petrobras plans to participate in a new call for tenders to explore oil and gas off Israel, a financial news website reported on Sunday. Israeli.
Calcalist has announced that a final decision could be announced during a four-day visit to Israel of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro that began Sunday.
The possibility that Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as its name indicates, participates in the most recent Israeli offshore block auction was raised at a meeting in Houston earlier this month between the Israeli Minister of Finance and Finance. Energy, Yuval Steinitz and his Brazilian counterpart, Bento Albuquerque, announced Calcalist.
Steinitz's office declined to comment on the report.
Petrobras was not reachable for an immediate comment.
A number of large gas discoveries off Israel and in the neighboring waters of the eastern Mediterranean over the past decade have made Israel a potentially lucrative prospect for large energy companies.
Israel currently offers 19 new offshore blocks to oil and gas companies. In a previous auction, bids had only been launched by two groups of companies. The Ministry of Energy had said expect more competition in the coming years, as the situation improved.
Exxon Mobil Corp., in a major policy change, is also considering bidding for the auction.
Report by Ari Rabinovitch; edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise
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