HRT to buy 80% stake in two Brazilian offshore fields from Shell

PetroRio, the new brand of HRT Participações em Petróleo, has agreed to acquire an 80% stake in two Brazilian offshore fields from Shell.

The Bijupirá and Salema fields are located in the pre-salt polygon, 80km north-east of the Polvo field, which was PetroRio’s first production asset.

"The transaction also includes the acquisition of the Fluminense floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ship."

Petróleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) holds the remaining 20% stake in the Bijupirá and Salema fields, which are located in water depths of 480m and 850m, respectively.

The licenses cover an area of 40,000km² and daily production totals 22,000 barrels of light oil and 325,000m³ of associated gas, equivalent to 24,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd).

The transaction also includes the acquisition of the Fluminense floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) ship, used in the production processes of both fields, with a storage capacity of up to 1.3 million barrels of oil.

Once regulatory agencies’ approval has been received, PetroRio will operate both fields.

The acquisition of the fields will be implemented with some of the funds raised via the first convertible debenture issuance and with a structured financing operation led by Glencore PLC subsidiary Glencore Ltd.

PetroRio said the transaction will increase its production to more than 30,000 barrels of oil per day.