With TotalEnergies stake in the bag, Brazilian player becomes sole owner of oil field

Brazilian oil and gas company PRIO, formerly known as PetroRio, has completed the acquisition of TotalEnergies’ interest in a field offshore Brazil, enabling it to take full ownership of the field.

In September 2023, PRIO inked an agreement with TotalEnergies E&P Brasil, a subsidiary of France’s TotalEnergies, for the acquisition of a 40 per cent interest in the BM-C-32 block, containing the Itaipu field.

At the time, the Brazilian firm explained that $75.000 needed to be paid upon closing of the acquisition. In addition, another $26,925,000 will be paid after Itaipu’s destination is defined.

In an update on Thursday, 23 March 2023, PRIO confirmed the closing of the acquisition of 40 per cent interest in the BM-C-32 block, acquired from TotalEnergies. This together with the 60 per cent interest in Itaipu acquired from BP Energy do Brasil, a subsidiary of the UK’s BP, on 17 June 2021, brings PRIO’s interest to 100 per cent in the concession.

The Itaipu field was discovered in 2009 in the BM-C-32 block in the pre-salt of the Campos basin. The block is adjacent to the Parque das Baleias cluster and near the Wahoo field, in deep waters (1,300 m) and 120 km off the Espírito Santo coast.

Three wells were drilled to evaluate the reservoir and a formation test was performed in the discovery well, which revealed good productivity and light oil of 31º API. PRIO’s preliminary studies indicate that the accumulation is potentially shared with the southeastern region of the adjacent cluster.

Regarding PRIO’s recent activities, it is worth noting that the Brazilian player handed out a long-term operating deal to Ocyan in January 2023 for a semi-submersible rig, which would carry out operations offshore Brazil. 

In addition, the firm paid almost $2 billion in total for the acquisition of Petrobras’ entire stake in Albacora Leste deepwater field off Brazil, enabling it to take over the operatorship of the field.