Petrobras sells oilfield asset to Statoil for $2.5 billion
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The agreement will give Statoil 66 percent ownership and operator status in a block that is home to Carcará, a prospect that Statoil says contains 700 million to 1.3 billion barrels of oil and equivalent natural gas.
That would equate to all petroleum needs in the United States for at least five weeks and up to two months.
The deal is for the BM-S-8 offshore exploration license now owned by Petroleo Brasileiro. The stake gives state-controlled Statoil two-thirds of the oil and gas produced in Carcará, bolstering non-Norwegian output as production from mature fields declines.
Petrobras CFO Ivan Monteiro said the sale proves his company is serious about plans to sell $15.1 billion of assets in 2015 and 2016 and pay down its $130 billion of debt, most in the oil industry. ■