Petrobras has acquired a stake in an oil exploration block off the coast of Namibia, in southwestern Africa. The area is located in the Lüderitz Basin and covers approximately 11,000 square kilometers (km²).

The information was disclosed in a material fact, a statement that companies make to investors.

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Brazil’s state-owned company states it acquired a 42.5-percent stake in the area, identified as Block 2613. French oil company TotalEnergies, Petrobras’ partner in oil production in Brazil, acquired another 42.5 percent.

Namcor Exploration and Production, a Namibian government-owned company, owns 10 percent, while Eight Offshore Investment Holdings holds five percent.

The stakes acquired by Petrobras and TotalEnergies were sold by Eight and Maravilla Oil & Gas.

The statement does not specify the purchase price. The company adds that the deal’s completion is still subject to the fulfillment of certain conditions – including government and regulatory approvals, notably from Namibia’s Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Energy.

Search for reserves

Petrobras President Magda Chambriard points out that the new stake is part of the company’s efforts to rebuild its oil and gas reserves.

“We have been carefully evaluating areas that have shown good prospects both in Brazil and in other parts of the world,” she said, adding that the purchase marks the oil giant’s return to Namibia.

Petrobras Exploration Director Sylvia Anjos underscored the company’s knowledge of the geological formation of the exploratory basin.

“We have extensive geological knowledge of the region, which is largely analogous to our sedimentary basins. We are looking closely at the west coast of Africa and the good opportunities there. This was the case in São Tomé and Príncipe, South Africa, and now Namibia,” she noted.

Africa

Petrobras is investing in the African continent with a view to increasing its current oil reserves, which are expected to start declining in the 2030s. 

Petrobras resumed operations on the African continent in 2024. On February 8 of that year, the company completed the acquisition of stakes in three exploration blocks in São Tomé and Príncipe, off the west coast of Africa. In two blocks, the stake is 45 percent; and in the third, 25 percent.

In October 2024, Petrobras’ board of directors approved operations in South Africa, enabling the acquisition of a stake in the Deep Western Orange Basin (DWOB) block through a competitive process conducted by TotalEnergies.

Americas

In addition to positions in Brazil and Africa, Petrobras has operations in South America and the US.

In Colombia, the state-owned company announced in December 2024 the discovery of the largest gas reserve in the country’s history. The giant Sirius-2 well – explored in a consortium with Ecopetrol, Colombia’s state-owned oil company – boasts a capacity equivalent to nearly half of Petrobras’ daily gas production in Brazil.

In Argentina, through its subsidiary Petrobras Operaciones S.A., the company holds a 33.6-percent stake in the Rio Neuquén production asset.

In Bolivia, the oil company produces gas mainly in the San Alberto and San Antonio fields, with a 35-percent stake in each of these service operation contracts, which are operated primarily to supply gas to Brazil and Bolivia.

In the US, operations take place in deepwater fields in the Gulf of Mexico, with a 20-percent stake held by Petrobras America Inc., forming the MPGoM joint venture with Murphy Exploration & Production Company.