Brazilian oil company Petrobras said Thursday it had not yet picked the winner in a bidding race for its Albacora and Albacora Leste fields in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil.
The company issued an update after Reuters on Thursday said the Brazilian oil giant had selected a consortium of PetroRio SA and Cobra, as the top bidder for its Albacora offshore oilfield. Reuters based its report on information from "four people with knowledge of the matter."
Reuters reported that PetroRio-Cobra had outbid the EIG Global Energies Partners/Enauta/3R Petroleum consortium for the Albacora field, but that Petrobras had chosen to organize a re-bid for the Albacora Leste field.
In an update Thursday, Petrobras said that "there is still no decision about the winning proposal for either asset," but confirmed there would be a re-bid for Albacora Leste.
"The company continues to analyze the offers according to the evaluation criteria of this project and clarifies that, specifically for Albacora Leste, it started the process of receiving new proposals (rebid), in accordance with the company's internal rules," the company said.
"To date, no decision has been made regarding Albacora, and the beginning of the negotiation phase for both assets will be submitted to the company's Executive Board for deliberation, after receipt of the new proposals for Albacora Leste and the conclusion of the analysis of the offers," Petrobras said.
A week ago, Petrobras confirmed it had received bids for the Albacora and Albacora Leste offshore fields which could "exceed US$4 billion for both fields."
Petrobras said that binding offers were submitted by the consortia PetroRio/Cobra and EIG Global Energies Partners/Enauta/3R Petroleum for the acquisition of the fields.
Reuters said in August that Talos Energy had withdrawn from the EIG Global Energies Partners/Enauta/3R consortium
Background
In September 2020, Petrobras launched a teaser for the potential sale of its interests in Albacora and Albacora Leste deepwater offshore blocks, both located in the Campos Basin.
Petrobras is selling a 100% operated working interest in the Albacora offshore deepwater license and a 90% operated working interest in the Albacora Leste. Both assets are located in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil.
Petrobras said at the time that with combined oil in place and production of 8.2 Bboe and 77 Mboe/d, the assets represent "a material, operated production hub with substantial post-salt revitalization and pre-salt development projects."
Albacora, in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,050 meters, was discovered by Petrobras in 1984. First production started production in 1987. The current production at the field is around 43 Mboe/d.
Field infrastructure includes two producing and processing platforms, the P-25 semi-submersible and P-31 FPSO.
For Albacora, Petrobras said there was a planned field revitalization project which holds the potential to more than triple production from current levels.
Albacora Leste, located in the northern area of the Campos Basin, in water depth ranging from 1,000 to 2,150 m, was discovered by Petrobras in 1988. First oil started flowing in 2006 and the current production of 34 Mboe/d.
Petrobras said last year that upcoming drilling and work-over activities at the Albacora Leste were projected to increase near-term production and sustain an extended production plateau.
Active field infrastructure includes the P-50 FPSO with an oil processing capacity of 180,000 bbl/d and 6 MMm³/d of gas. Oil is offloaded through shuttle tankers and gas is exported through the neighboring PNA-1 platform.
As with most of its recent divestments, Petrobras said that the potential Albacora assets sale - dubbed last year by Welligence "one of the world's most attractive acquisition packages on the market," - was in line with the portfolio optimization strategy and the improvement of the company’s capital allocation, increasingly concentrating its resources in deep and ultra-deep waters, "where Petrobras has demonstrated great competitive edge over the years."
Credit: Petrobras
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