After unsuccessfully trying to sell its Golfinho asset last year, Petrobras has reopened bidding on the oilfield cluster in the Espírito Santo Basin. The company will accept bids from potential buyers in late May, according to unnamed sources.
An asset divestment strategy pursued by former CEO Roberto Castello Branco put the Golfinho oilfield on the block last year, with offers accepted in September. Negotiations with DBO Energy, an oil and gas company founded by Norwegian and Brazilian executives, which presented the highest offer in the bidding round, concluded without a deal.
Castello Branco was replaced by the Brazilian government as head of the company in April by Joaquim Silva e Luna, putting divestment plans in question. Silva e Luna appears, however, to be following his predecessor’s lead, divesting legacy assets to reduce debt and fund deepwater drilling.
Information from a well drilled in the oilfield cluster in 2020 shows average daily production at Golfinho was 15,000 barrels of oil, although production has been in decline, according to Reuters.
The sources said they anticipate offers will be made by DBO Energy, Norway’s BW Energy Ltd. and potentially private-equity firm Seacrest Capital.