Petrobras NEWS

Brazilian state-run, Petrobras recorded its highest-ever quarterly profits yesterday. The state-run behemoth registered 18.87 billion reais ($4.92 billion) in profits, easily beating analysts’ estimates. Petrobras’ largest share of profit came from asset sales. The firm cashed in about $12.764 billion from asset sales, which also includes $8.722 billion from gas pipelines sale to France’s Engie SA in the quarter.

Brazil's state-run company, Petrobras has decided to forfeit control of the biggest fuel distributor of the country, Petrobras Distribuidora. Under its new Chief Executive, the oil major went ahead with the privatisation drive and made this decision in a share offering due to be priced on Tuesday. The company holds a 25% share in Petrobras Distribuidora of which it will relinquish the control. It will bring in roughly $2 billion.

Brazilian oil major, Petrobras has put on sale its natural gas fields in Peroa and Cangoa shallow-water, apart from the Malombe deepwater exploration concession. The state-run firm informed in securities filing about initiating the teaser phase of the sale. The fields in Peroa and Cangoa yield about 900,000 cubic meters of gas per day, while the Malombe concession will most likely be declared commercially feasible in 2019.

Petrobras yesterday said in securities filing about making a payment of $700 million to US oilfield services provider, Vantage Drilling Company. The payment pertains to the termination of a 2015-contract awarded by Petrobras to Vantage. The payment comes after US court decision denied Petrobras’ request to revoke the result of an earlier arbitration in Holland. Petrobras has said that the payment does not imply an end to the litigation.

State-owned oil major, Petrobras informed in a regulatory filing yesterday of making natural gas discoveries in six deep-water fields in the Sergipe Basin. Petrobras will now plan a budget to finance production from the potential wells discovered in recent years. A Brazilian Newspaper has estimated that Petrobras could extract up to 20 million cubic meters of natural gas per day from the discovered fields.

Brazilian state-owned Petrobras has awarded the FPSO contract for the Mero field to SBM Offshore. The contract will require the Dutch FPSO specialist to design and operate the 180,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) FPSO Mero 2. Scheduled for delivery in 2022, the FPSO Mero 2 vessel will leverage SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward programme. The programme integrates the firm’s novel built, multi-purpose hull with numerous standardized topsides modules.

EPC giant, McDermott has secured a contract from Petrobras to carry out engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of subsea risers and flowlines under Phase-1 of the Sepia field project. McDermott plans to utilize five vessels for the installation phase at ultra-deepwater depths. The engineering work will most likely begin immediately, and McDermott will reflect the contract in the second quarter of 2019 backlog.

A lawsuit which was filed in 2016 by Nigeria, accused many companies of exporting a total of 57 million barrels of crude oil to the United States between 2011 and 2014. The names of the companies also included Eni and Petrobras. However, on Wednesday the Nigerian court ruled out all the claims of the involvement of the subsidiaries of Eni and Petrobras for illegally exporting crude oil to the US.

A number of scheduled and unscheduled stoppages went on to become the reason for Petrobras' profit downturn in the first quarter. Consequently, the company reported a drop in oil production by 3.5%. The production declined to about 2.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day attributed by the maintenance work and other interruptions at platforms and FPSO units in January and February.

In a statement released yesterday, supermajor Chevron informed about concluding the purchase of 112,229-barrel-per-day Pasadena refinery from Petrobras in $350 million. Additionally, Chevron has also acquired Petrobras’ subsidiary, PRSI which operates the refinery and owns PRSI Trading, a trader of crude and refined products. Chevron and Petrobras agreed in January for the sale, but the transfer of the refinery ownership was kept on hold last month.

Malaysian state-owned Petronas has entered into a $1.29 billion deal to buy 50% of Petrobas’ exploration and production rights in Tartaruga Verde field and the Espadarte field. In a statement, the Brazilian state-run firm said that the deal amount will be paid in two installments. The deal is in line with Petrobras’ divestment strategy, under which it has already sold off $11.3 billion worth of assets.

Brazilian state-run Petrobras has agreed to settle a deepwater contract dispute with the Government of Brazil in a whopping compensation amount of $9 billion. The settlement has come as the government seeks to access extra reserves in Transfer of Rights (TOR) area. In 2010, the Brazilian government transferred the 5 billion bbl of undeveloped reserves under the TOR contract to Petrobras for a cost of $8.51/bbl.

Petrobras has sold its 90% stakes in the gas pipeline to Engie SA and Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec for $8.6 billion. These companies survived multiple rounds of bidding for the unit which is known as TAG. Also, this is said to be the biggest-ever single asset sale for the company. TAG operates 4,500 km pipeline network which is spread across 10 states in northern Brazil.

In a regulatory filing, Brazilian state-run Petrobras has informed about an oil spill that occurred offshore Espirito Santo, Brazil. Approximately 188 cubic meters of oil was spilled during a routine transfer to a vessel at platform P-58 in Bacia dos Campos, Espirito Santo state. Petrobras has assured against any oil reaching the shore, which is 80 km away. The oil major is currently investigating the incident.

Chevron has eyed on the Petrobras’ 110,000 bpd refinery in Pasadena. Chevron is ready to pay $350 million to Petrobras for the same. Further, the company also wants to take the ownership of a 466-acre complex on the Houston Ship Channel. This is in line with the Chevron’s plan to own a second Gulf Coast facility after reporting an increase of 150,000-bpd in its shale production in the third quarter.

Production has commenced from the eighth platform installed in the Lula field, offshore Brazil. The BM-S-11 concession is operated by Brazilian state-owned, Petrobras where Shell and Petrogal Brasil are partners. Oil and natural gas is being produced from the P-69 FPSO in the Lula field through eight producing wells and utilising seven injection wells. Lula field entered into production phase in October 2010.

Petrobras’ subsidiary, Petrobras America Inc. and Murphy Oil Corporation’s subsidiary Murphy Exploration & Production Company have signed an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) comprised of oil producing assets in the Gulf of Mexico. Both the companies will contribute their present assets of Gulf of Mexico, with Murphy having 80% interest and PAI 20%. The production of this JV is expected to be approximately 75,000 boed in fourth-quarter 2018.

The subsea production system for Petrobras’ Mero 1 project will be supplied by Norway’s Aker Solutions. The subsea production system, which will consist of 12 vertical subsea trees, will be manufactured at the São José dos Pinhais and Rio das Ostras facility. The Norwegian energy service company is already working on the project, with deliveries scheduled for 2020. The subsea production system will be hooked up to Guanabara FPSO.