Brazil's Petrobras Sells 10 Fields for $365mn

Brazil's Petrobras has finalised the sale of the ten Pampo and Enchova fields in the shallow waters of the Campos basin, off the Rio de Janeiro state, to London-based Trident Energy, the companies said on July 15.

The fields were first developed by Petrobras in the 1980s, but they still flow 22,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day from four platforms. Trident is now their sole owner, after making a $365.4mn payment to Petrobras. But the Brazilian firm noted it would be receiving up to a further $650mn in contingency payments.

Trident, which also produces oil off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, said "a large number of attractive projects to increase the production, rejuvenate the assets and extend the life of these fields have been identified."

Petrobras is selling dozens of fields and other assets, as it looks to pay off its debts, which grossed $87bn at the end of last year, making it one of the most indebted oil companies in the world. It also wants to free up capital to invest in new deepwater oil projects.