Dec 19, 2019
Anglo-French Perenco and UK companies Trident Energy and Premier Oil are among the companies studying the purchase of a set of Petrobras oil fields known as Polo Garoupa, seven sources told Reuters in recent weeks.
The deliberations are preliminary, and it is possible that neither company will actually buy mature offshore fields in the Campos Basin, at least under the terms Petrobras offers them, the sources added, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential matters.
Brazilian PetroRio is also looking at Garoupa, maintaining the company’s strategy of studying all mature oil fields for sale by Petrobras, the sources said.
None of the companies responded to requests for comments.
Unlike previous Petrobras divestments in oil fields, the sale of Polo Garoupa has no non-binding phase. Potential buyers have signed confidentiality terms and discuss the asset only internally and with Petrobras.
They also discussed the possibility of consortium formation, according to the sources. The next formal step will be to send the binding offers.
However, sources say that Garoupa is an atypical complex, and the potential price range is not yet clear. Although binding offers were scheduled for December, they were postponed to March 2020, they added.
According to Petrobras, Polo Garoupa produced 19,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the 12 months to August, making it the largest production asset in the company’s current divestment portfolio.
Seeking to reduce its debt, Petrobras plans to divest at least U$ 20 billion to U$ 30 billion over the next five years.
The company has sold a number of oil fields, and executives say they are considering placing larger production assets in the divestment block by 2020.
Still, Petrobras’ divestments in oil fields sometimes encounter obstacles, so much so that buyers have already criticized the pace of the process.
Garoupa is considered a more complex asset than others of similar sizes sold by Petrobras recently, the sources said.
Decommissioning obligations could reach U$ 2 billion, while some of the infrastructure at Polo Garoupa, in operation since the 1970s, is considered outdated. The area is also a transshipment point for natural gas transported from larger maritime fields, which could complicate operations and subject buyers to penalties in the event of downtime.
Source: Reuters
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