Petrobras and Total said Jan. 15 they have completed the previously announced transaction involving Lapa and Iara area fields, finalizing a milestone in their strategic alliance signed in March 2017.

The transactions, which total $1.95 billion, involve Petrobras transferring to Total 35% of the rights and operatorship of the Lapa Field in Block BM-S-9A in the Santos Basin presalt. Partners in the field are Shell (30%), Repsol-Sinopec (25%) and Petrobras (10%).

Petrobras also transferred to Total 22.5% of the rights of the Iara area, which comprises the Sururu, Berbigão and Oeste de Atapu fields in Block BM-S-11A in the Santos Basin presalt, operated by Petrobras (42.5%) with Shell (25%) and Petrogal (10%).

Production in Iara is expected to start in 2018 through the 150,000 bbl/d-capacity P-68 FPSO unit in the Berbigão-Sururu fields, which will be followed by a second FPSO unit in 2019 in the Atapu Field, Total said in the release.

Production at the Lapa Field started in December 2016 via the 100,000 bbl/d-capacity Cidade de Caraguatatuba FPSO vessel.

“These transactions represent a major step in our strategic alliance,” Petrobras CEO Pedro Parente said in the release. “As Petrobras is a leader in the presalt exploration and Total is a leader in deep offshore West Africa, our partnership has potential to reduce our exploratory risks and make both companies more competitive.”

Total CEO Patrick Pouyanné said the company is “especially pleased to be the first major to operate a presalt producing field in Brazil. We intend to keep strengthening our Strategic Alliance with Petrobras thanks to our commitment to extend our technical cooperation in operations, research and technology, and to develop new synergies between both of our companies.”

Offshore