US supermajor ExxonMobil has bought half of Norwegian firm Equinor’s stake in the BM-S-8 oil block offshore Brazil, completing a purchase agreed in 2017.
Equinor also sold a 3% stake to Petrogal Brasil (a subsidiary of Portuguese firm Galp). It received $955 million for the stakes.
The deal means Exxon holds 36.5% of the block, operator Equinor (which used to be called Statoil) still has 36.5%, Petrogal Brasil 17% and Barria Energia 10%.
Part of the huge estimated 2 billion-barrel Carcara subsalt field is included in the block.
Exxon and Equinor each hold 40% stakes in the adjacent North Carcara block which comprises the rest of the Carcara field. Equinor is also the operator of North Carcara.
Production from the Carcara field is expected to begin in 2023 or 2024.
