Brazil Court Suspends Petrobras Oil Field Sale To Statoil

A Brazilian court has ordered Petrobras to suspend the sale of its stake in an exploratory block to Statoil after a union argued there should have been an open bidding process.

Petrobras said in a securities filing on April 17 that the deal for its stake in the BM-S-8 region known as the Carcara Field was approved by regulators.

Half of the $2.5 billion in proceeds were due when the deal closed in November, and the company said it had used those funds to repay debts. Petrobras said it would take legal measures to defend its interests.

The sale of the 66% stake in the offshore prospect was the first major presalt asset sold as part of a divestment plan that now aims to raise $21 billion in two years for Petrobras to pay down its debts.

The National Federation of Oil Workers said it had filed the lawsuit because Petrobras, as a state-controlled enterprise, is required to hold an open bid for any asset sale.

Statoil is confident that its deal with Petrobras to acquire a stake in exploration Block BM-S-8 offshore Brazil will eventually go ahead despite a court suspension, a spokesman said on April 18.

“We are confident that the deal will go ahead. ... We are considering various legal options, but we are confident that we have a strong case,” Statoil’s spokesman Erik Haaland said.

Lundin Appraisal Well Hits Oil At North Sea’s Edvard Grieg

A Lundin Petroleum subsidiary appraisal well, targeting additional resources on the southwestern flank of the Edvard Grieg Field in the central North Sea, has hit oil.

The find confirms the upside for the field “in the order of 10 to 30 MMboe,” Lundin said in a news release. “The final implication for total reserves for the Edvard Grieg Field will be quantified in the 2017 year-end reserves update.”

Drilled 3 km (1.9 miles) west of the Edvard Grieg platform by Lundin Norway, appraisal well 16/1-27 in PL338 encountered a 15-m (49-ft) gross oil column in a 94-m (308-ft) thick sandstone reservoir compared to the pre-drill estimate of 38 m (125 ft) thickness, Lundin Petroleum said in a news release.

The top reservoir was hit deeper than expected with excellent reservoir quality that was also better than anticipated, the company said. The oil water contact was encountered at 1,948 m (6,391 ft) below mean sea level, 9 m (30 ft) deeper than the established contact in this part of the Edvard Grieg Field.

Pressure data confirm communication with the Edvard Grieg Field, Lundin said. Conventional coring and fluid sampling were among the data acquired.

The well, drilled using the Island Innovator semisubmersible drilling rig, will be permanently plugged and abandoned.

Lundin Norway is the operator of PL338 with a 65% working interest. Partners are OMV Norge AS and Wintershall Norge AS, holding 20% and 15% interest, respectively.

—Staff & Reuters Reports

Offshore