Petrobras Acquires 90% Interest in 8 Offshore Exploration Blocks in Côte d'Ivoire

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 17, Petrobras, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Netherlands B.V. (PNBV), formally signed 8 production sharing contracts with the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire and the national oil company PETROCI Holding, acquiring interests in eight offshore oil and gas exploration blocks: CI-513, CI-600, CI-601, CI-602, CI-603, CI-605, CI-701 and CI-702 in Côte d'Ivoire. PNBV will hold a 90% interest in each block and serve as operator, while PETROCI Holding holds the remaining 10%.

The above 8 blocks are located in the western waters of the Côte d'Ivoire sedimentary basin, most of which are deepwater blocks. The Ivorian government had previously approved the signing of production sharing contracts with Petrobras for these blocks in June. Following the completion of formal signing on September 17, the project moved from the contract negotiation stage to the stage of formal implementation of exploration interests. The Ivorian government stated that with the signing of the 8 new contracts, approximately 75% of the country's sedimentary basin area has been incorporated into production, appraisal or exploration activities, covering an area of approximately 63,000 square kilometers.

The scope previously discussed between Petrobras and the Ivorian government included 9 blocks such as CI-700, but the contracts formally signed were ultimately locked in at 8 blocks, with CI-700 not included in this signing. Early government documents showed that most of these blocks are located in the deepwater area of the western Côte d'Ivoire sedimentary basin, and Petrobras had previously initiated contract negotiations for the relevant waters.

The core of this signing remains at the exploration stage. Petrobras's official announcement currently discloses the block numbers, equity ratios and operator arrangements, but has not yet published the area of each block, specific water depths, initial exploration investment amounts, minimum work commitments, 2D or 3D seismic acquisition scale, the location of the first exploration well or the drilling timetable. At this stage, there are also no oil and gas discoveries, reserve confirmations or development and construction milestones.

Petrobras has incorporated this Côte d'Ivoire block acquisition into its overseas exploration portfolio expansion plan. The company has previously advanced exploration layouts in African markets including São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, Namibia and Ghana, focusing on deepwater basins with similar geological conditions on both sides of the Atlantic. Following this signing, Côte d'Ivoire has become a newly added key market in its African upstream exploration portfolio.