BW Offshore Confirms Negotiations Over Golfinho Buy With Petrobras

Oil and gas company BW Energy has confirmed it was having discussions with Brazil’s oil and gas giant Petrobras over a potential purchase of a stake in the Golfinho Cluster offshore Brazil.

BW Energy said that it was talking to Petrobras over the Golfinho Cluster stake buy since it was part of its ‘continuous consideration of opportunities to acquire assets in line with its strategy.

Although the company did confirm talks with Petrobras it noted that it can neither confirm nor deny that a transaction would take place.

To put all this into context it must be said that Petrobras stated in January 2020 that it was looking to sell its entire stake in the Golfinho and Camarupim clusters located in the Espírito Santo Basin.

Petrobras stated last year that it received a binding offer from BW Energy and DBO Energia for its Golfinho fields and it was reported that the Brazilian state-owned firm was expected to start bilateral negotiations with the top bidder shortly afterward.

It did not turn out this way as it took quite a long time to get to this point but as Petronas stated in a separate announcement – the divestment process of the Golfinho Cluster maritime concession was still in the binding phase and that BW Offshore was invited to the negotiation table.

According to Petrobras, the signing of the purchase and sale agreement was still subject to the approval of competent Petrobras bodies.

This is far from the only asset Petrobras is trying to shake off. Namely, Petrobras decided to shed all of its non-core assets and focus on its Brazilian assets in deep and ultradeep waters.

Some of the fields on the chopping block are the Catuá field located in the Campos Basin offshore Brazil as well as the Uruguá and Tambaú fields in the Santos Basin.

Petrobras also began the non-binding phase for the sale of its entire 20 percent stake in a company that holds its Gulf of Mexico assets in early 2022.

As for the Golfinho Cluster, it comprises the oil-producing Golfinho field, the Canapu non-associated gas producer, and the BM-ES-23 exploratory block.

The field started operations in 2007 and production is done via the Cidade de Vitória FPSO. This Saipem-owned FPSO can produce 100,000 barrels per day of oil and the charter contract with Petrobras expires this year.

Golfinho has six wells for oil production, two for gas production, and two for water injection – all connected to the FPSO Cidade de Vitória. The gas produced is exported through a 12” pipeline to the Cacimbas Gas Treatment Unit for processing.

To contact the author, email bojan.lepic@rigzone.com