It bought France’s Total Energy, Royal Dutch Shell, Malaysia’s Petronas and Qatar Energy Two major offshore fields in Brazil with Petrobras State-owned, it has paid nearly $2 billion to its cash-strapped government.
While the largest bid for the Sepia field was from Total Energies (28%), Qatar Energy (21%) and Petronas (21%), Petrobras, whose official name is Petroleo Brasileiro, later entered the consortium by exercising preferential rights to obtain a 30% stake.
The nearby Atapu field was acquired by Petrobras (52.5%), Shell (25%) and Total (22.5%).
Brazil attempted to auction the two fields in 2019, but received no bids for either, not even from Petrobras. At the time, major oil companies were holding back due to complex legal issues.
