The Brazilian state-run company Petrobras announced the start of the binding phase in the process to sell its stake in the Nigerian company Petrobras Oil & Gas B.V. (POGBV), a joint venture of Petrobras (50%), BTG Pactual E&P (40%) and Helios Investment Partners (10%). The company will instruct potential investors on how to proceed with due diligence process and the binding proposals. The sale was announced in November 2017 and fits into the framework of Petrobras' massive divestment programme to reduce its indebtedness.
POGBV owns interest in two operating deepwater blocks offshore Nigeria: 16% in OML 127 (24% Total (operator), 16% POGBV, 60% Famfa Oil) and 8% in OML 130 (32% Chevron (operator), 45% CNOOC and 15% South Atlantic Petroleum). The two blocks contain two of the four largest producing offshore fields in Nigeria: the Akpo (OML 130) and Agbami (OML 127) producing fields, which together account for around 18% of Nigeria’s liquid production.
Besides, they also include the ongoing oil development asset Egina in OML 130 (first production expected in late 2018) and the Preowei discovery in OML 130, which is currently being appraised. The blocks have combined proven and probable (2P) reserves of 1,549 mbl (Akpo, Agbami and Egina) and contingent (2C) resources of 300 mbl (Preowei), out of which 204 mbl entitlement reserves for POGBV. POGBV expects to raise its production from the current 48 kb/d to 75 kb/d by 2019.