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Brazilian oil giant Petrobras expands investments in northern Brazil and buys slices of blocks for oil exploration from oil company BP
The Brazilian state-owned giant Petrobras informed yesterday (06/04) that it signed an agreement with the oil company BP Bunge to take over all of the British company's stakes in 6 oil and gas exploratory blocks in ultra-deep waters at Foz do Amazonas, about 120 kilometers from Amapá. Workers at Petrobras' Repar refinery die from Covid-19; in defense oil workers organize strike
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The operation comes after Petrobras also reached understandings with another partner in most of these assets, the French Total, in the midst of difficulties to advance in licensing processes in the region, considered environmentally sensitive.
“The agreement with BP will allow Petrobras to hold a 100% stake in these six blocks,” the company said in a statement to the market on Tuesday (5).
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The oil blocks involved in the deal were acquired in consortiums in the 11th ANP Bidding Round, in 2013.
Petrobras held 30% of each block. In five of them, Total owned 40% and BP 30%. In one of the blocks, BP's stake was 70%.
The Brazilian oil company said that the purchase of all these blocks "is in line with the 2021-2025 Strategic Plan, which provides for new exploratory fronts outside the Southeast basins".
The company also said that it prioritizes investments “in world-class assets in deep and ultra-deep waters”.
According to Petrobras, the agreement with BP is still subject to regulatory approvals.
The prior understanding of the state-owned company with Total for the blocks is still awaiting approval from the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP), but has already been approved by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade).
Petrobras and its partners in the Foz do Amazonas Basin blocks faced difficulties in obtaining permissions to drill in the area, after environmental licensing processes that began in 2015
The region where the assets are located extends along the coast of the State of Amapá and Ilha do Marajó, in Pará, and is home to the largest continuous belt of mangroves on the planet, in addition to coral reefs.
As a result, oil exploration activities in the area have also faced opposition from environmentalists and non-governmental organizations such as Greenpeace.
Greenpeace specialists argue that the government should deny licenses for exploration activities in these blocks in order to preserve sensitive and still little-known ecosystems in the region, such as Amazonian corals.
