Brazilian oil giant Petrobras makes its return to Africa with exploration agreements for three offshore blocks in São Tomé and Príncipe, acquired as part of a consortium with British multinational Shell, reports Lusa.
Blocks 10, 11 and 13 are in Zone B, curving around the eastern coast of São Tomé Island. Under the agreement, Petrobras holds a 45 percent stake in Blocks 10 and 13, and 25 percent stake in Block 11. Shell, which will act as the operator, holds a 40 percent stake in all three blocks while ANP-STP (National Petroleum Agency of São Tomé and Príncipe) holds a 15 percent stake. The remaining 20 percent stake in Block 11 is held by Portugal’s Galp Energia.
Representatives of Shell, Petrobras and ANP-STP gathered recently in the capital of São Tomé to sign the deal, witnessed by José Rio, the infrastructure and natural resources minister.
[See more: CNOOC’s deep-water oilfield project begins production in Brazil]
Shell and Galp drilled the first offshore well in São Tomé in 2022, confirming “the existence of an active petroleum system” in Block 6, a Zone A block adjacent to Blocks 10 and 11. While the deep-water well, named Jaca-1, was deemed to not be a commercial discovery, the presence of oil there remains encouraging for the fledgling industry in the archipelago.
Drilling in the basin will require extensive expertise in deep and ultra-deep water exploration, an area where Petrobras has a “wealth of experience and know-how,” according to the executive director of ANP-STP, Álvaro Silva. He views Petrobras joining Shell, which has been in the country since 2019, as putting São Tomé “on the right path towards the discovery of commercial oil.”
The São Tomé investment is part of a broader strategic plan by Petrobras, set out in November of last year, to “replenish reserves and develop new exploratory frontiers” while “minimising the carbon footprint during the ongoing energy transition.” The company allocated US$1.3 billion over the next five years to exploration outside of Brazil.
