Petrobras secures several PSCs with Petroci offshore Ivory Coast

With deepwater knowledge gathered over several decades in pre-salt basins, Brazil's national energy company, Petrobras, is now looking towards Africa because of its mirror image geology 

Being conjugate basins, Brazil and Africa share very similar geological patterns, making it structurally and technically easier for Petrobras to explore and generate production.

Alternative to declining pre-salt reserves

While Petrobras' massive pre-salt fields off the coast of Rio de Janeiro are highly lucrative today, these are gradually declining in production count and might stop producing by the 2030s. The Brazil oil major is thus strategising resources diversification to replenish its oil resreves. It keeps seeking new frontiers to expand exploration portfolio, generating long-term value and sustainability for the company. 

Eight blocks in Ivory Coast

After closing major exploration deal in Ghana, Petrobras has signed production sharing agreements (PSCs) with Petroci Holding to secure exploration interests across eight offshore blocks in Ivory Coast.

The PSCs were formalised through the major's wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Netherlands BV during a signing ceremony in Abidjan, where Petrobras' executive director of exploration and production, Sylvia Anjos, was present. This gives Petrobras a 90% stake as operator of Blocks CI-513, CI-600, CI-601, CI-602, CI-603, CI-605, CI-701 and CI-702. Petroci, on the other hand, retains a 10% stake in all these blocks.

African Atlantic margin potential

"With this acquisition, Petrobras assumes a significant presence in Ivory Coast, a country located in a region of high exploratory potential, with geological characteristics similar to those of our sedimentary basins. We will apply our experience and technical capacity to these blocks and we are confident that, with them, we will be able to uncover all the possibilities that we believe exist on the African Atlantic margin," said the president of Petrobras, Magda Chambriard.

This is in line with Petrobras' business plan for exploration portfolio diversification, focusing on new prospects not only in Brazil but internationally. It will promote value creation and long-term business sustainability for the major.