Petrobras will look to Africa for exploration outside Brazil, CEO says

Petrobras aims to make Africa its main region of development outside Brazil, CEO Magda Chambriard said recently in an interview with Reuters.

Chambriard said that the Ivory Coast had extended the “red carpet” for Petrobras to explore the deep and ultra-deep waters off its coast, and has given the company preference in buying nine offshore exploratory blocks. 

She added that Nigeria, Angola, and Namibia have also expressed interest in working with Petrobras.

“We are experts in the eastern margin of Brazil,” Chambriard told Reuters, citing geological similarities between the region and Africa. “The correlation between Brazil and Africa is unequivocal, so we need to go to Africa.” 

In recent years, Petrobras has shown an interest in buying stakes in oil assets abroad, especially in Africa. The company is looking to boost reserves while it faces delays in obtaining environmental permits to drill for new oil off the coast of the Amazon rainforest.

Petrobras’ plans mark a return to the African continent after the company divested assets in the region under previous governments. That decision had been made as part of a broad plan that made the company focus on high-productivity areas in Brazil’s presalt fields.

Petrobras has already entered the African market to an extent. In 2023, it bought a stake in an offshore oil field in South Africa and in early 2024 it purchased an interest in fields in the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe, where it hopes to drill a well this year, Chambriard said.

Despite the recent efforts, Chambriard said the firm was outbid by TotalEnergies for a share in Galp Energia’s discovery in the Mopane field, offshore Namibia.

“We hope to be invited” to develop Mopane, Chambriard added, without giving further details.

Petrobras is also seeking to explore India’s coast, and plans to take part in an upcoming oil block auction scheduled for July, Chambriard said.