A top Brazilian energy official said on Friday he expects strong company interest in an upcoming oil bid round despite turmoil in capital markets, adding the auction should take place before the end of the year.

The country’s 11th bidding round, the first oil rights auction in Brazil since 2008, will include onshore regions as well as areas off the country’s northeastern coast, but not areas in the prolific Santos and Campos Basins where Brazil produces 85 per cent of its oil and has made its biggest crude discoveries to date.

“Even in the context of the crisis, what I’ve seen is foreign companies and Brazilian companies coming to ask about the 11th round,” said Haroldo Lima, head of the country’s ANP energy regulator.

“I always ask them if the crisis won’t create problems, and they say they are being affected by the crisis but that they are prepared for the round no matter what.”

He added that Chinese companies are carrying out “farm-in” operations to buy oil assets in Brazil, but that they would prefer to participate in a bid round. Farming in involves buying stakes in existing projects or concessions.

The auction is still awaiting formal approval by President Dilma Rousseff. Lima said the ANP would be able to launch the round within 90 days of the presidential approval, one month less than the group had originally estimated.

He said the auction rules and concession terms could be published by late August or early September.

The blocks will be offered under the concession system that has been used in Brazil’s previous tenders.

Under the system, producers own all oil produced in exchange for a royalty and meeting terms of the concession contract that include provisions such as minimum local content and hiring rules, and minimum exploration requirements.

Brazil’s Congress last year approved a new production-sharing system that will apply to an area known as the subsalt.