Australia’s Karoon looking to enter Atlanta field off Brazil

Brazil’s Enauta has confirmed it is in talks with Australia’s Karoon Energy for the sale of part of its interest in the Atlanta field located offshore Brazil.

Located in the Santos Basin, the Atlanta field is operated by Enauta, which has a 100 per cent interest in this asset.

Following a report by Brazilian news agency Petróleo Hoje that Karoon is close to entering the Atlanta field, Enauta on Wednesday clarified to its shareholders and the market in general that it has received a nonbinding offer and has signed an agreement that ensures an exclusivity period for due diligence and confidential negotiations within the scope of a potential sale of 50 per cent of its interest, without operation, in Block BS-4, where the Atlanta field is located.

Enauta also added that the offer has been presented by Karoon Energy and the exclusivity agreement is valid until 31 May 2022. It is worth mentioning that Karoon already has assets in Brazil’s Santos Basin.

As emphasised by Enauta, the parties have the discretion to proceed or not with the transaction.

As a reminder, Enauta in April 2021 revealed it was looking for new partners for the development of the Atlanta field. This was following Enauta’s takeover of 50 per cent working interest in the field from Barra Energia. The agreement announced now is in line with this strategy.

The Atlanta field is currently producing through an Early Production System (EPS) – comprising three wells connected to the FPSO Petrojarl I. The charter, operation, and maintenance agreements for the FPSO were extended in January 2022 with a duration of up to two years.

Enauta is now working towards a full field development, which has recently been approved. The project has the capacity to produce 50,000 barrels of oil and process 140,000 barrels of water per day. The startup is expected by mid-2024 – initially with six wells.

Enauta has already signed agreements with Malaysia’s Yinson for the conversion of an existing production unit for the FPSO to be used for Atlanta’s Full Field Development System.