Brazil had an auction of the right to use up some of their non-renewable resources. The Chinese state-sponsored companies CNPC and CNOOC made a deal with French oil giant Total and Anglo-Dutch Shell to submit a combined bid – instead of bidding against each other, they submitted the lowest possible bid as a consortium.
Reading between the lines, it looks like maybe the Chinese told the other nine companies expressing interest “we can outbid you, or you can work with us” but only Shell and Total were willing to collaborate; everybody else just left, rather than annoy the Chinese by driving the price up.
Magda Chambriard, president of the Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency, said “It is hard to imagine a more successful outcome.”