MONTEVIDEO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's state-run energy firm Petrobras and Argentina's YPF have been awarded a contract to explore for natural gas and oil off Uruguay's coast, state energy firm ANCAP said on Thursday.
Uruguay, which relies on imports to meet its fuel needs, opened a tender for companies to drill 11 blocks of up to 8,000 square km (3,089 square miles), but the government only received offers for the two most promising blocks.
"If the government approves the recommendation, the contracts will be signed in about a month," ANCAP President German Riet told reporters, without putting a figure on how much each company would spend.
Petrobras and YPF, the Argentine unit of Spain's Repsol presented their exploration proposal as a consortium but each company will explore one block.
If the drilling leads to the discovery of commercially viable reserves of oil or natural gas, the government will negotiate with the companies to secure a role for ANCAP in an eventual production operation.
Preliminary exploration off the country's Atlantic coast has raised hopes of energy independence in the small South American country, which imports a million barrels of crude every 25 days.
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