Offshore oil block auction nets Brazil more than $2 billion

Brazil has netted the equivalent of more than $2 billion in an auction for the exploration of oil and gas fields off the country's coast.

Brazil's state-owned oil company Petrobras, in conjunction with consortia formed by major foreign companies, picked up 22 of the 47 offshore blocks that were offered in the auction held Thursday.

The foreign companies included Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, Norway's Statoil, Germany's Wintershall and France's Total.