Petrobras unveiled today plans to divest the Azulão natural gas field in the Brazilian Amazon Basin as part of its sale strategy to raise nearly USD 21 billion by the end of 2018. Petrobras  has 100% interest in the natural gas asset in Concession BA-3 in Amazonas state, located 290km east of Manaus, the capital city of Amazonas.

According to the company, the new buyer would get the opportunity to develop and commercialize Azulão which is located near existing infrastructure in a hydrocarbon field and also the Tucuruí-Manaus power transmission line. Discovered in 1999 and declared commercial in 2004, Azulão has two have productive wells.

Petrobras will seek that prospective bidders to meet at least one of two conditions it has laid out to qualify for a 100% stake in the gas asset. The first condition is that the bidder must have experience in exploration and production in the Amazonas or Solimões Basin in Brazil. While, the second is that the bidder must hold a minimum thermoelectricity installed capacity of 200Mwh in Brazil. Additional conditions such as that the prospective buyer will not be permitted to create a consortium with other companies to take part in the bidding process.

Earlier in the month, Petrobras announced divestitures of its stake in Petrobras Oil & Gas which owns assets in Africa and the US-located Pasadena Refinery.

Source: EBR – Energy Business Review, May 17, 2017