Petrobras Sells 27 More Onshore Concessions
Brazil's Petrobras has agreed to sell 27 onshore exploration and production concessions in Espirito Santo to Brazilian independent Karavan Oil and private equity group Seacrest Capital, it said on August 27, marking the latest in a series of asset disposals.
Karavan and Seacrest will operate the assets, collectively known as the Cricare cluster, through a 51:49 joint venture. They will pay $155mn, of which $11mn will be paid now, $26mn when the deal is closed and $118mn in contingent payments. The transaction needs approval from Brazilian authorities.
According to Petrobras, the Cricare cluster produced around 1,700 b/d of oil and 14,000 m3/d of gas in the first half of the year.
Petrobras is on a sweeping divestment programme, aimed at raising capital to clear its large debts and invest in deepwater plays. It has already sold off dozens of non-core fields, pipelines and other assets as part of this drive. Earlier this month it also struck a deal to sell eight onshore fields at Polo Rio Ventura to a local company called 3R Petroleum e Participacoes for $94.2mn.