Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras has decided to abandon its plan to offload its Bahia-Terra cluster in north-eastern Brazil, reported Reuters, citing the company’s executives.

Petrobras, however, is considering a potential partnership in the asset, the executives said.

The move represents a blow to Brazilian energy companies PetroReconcavo and Eneva, which jointly made an offer of more than $1.4bn (6.7bn reais) for the cluster in 2022.

At that time, Petrobras said it invited PetroReconcavo and Eneva to the negotiation phase.

However, a deal between Petrobras and the smaller Brazilian companies was not signed.

The Bahia Terra cluster includes 28 onshore production concessions in the state of Bahia. It also includes access to logistics, processing, storage, transportation and outflow infrastructure for oil and natural gas.

The cluster comprises collection and treatment stations, oil storage and transportation parks, gas and oil pipelines, and the natural gas processing unit Catu, along with other infrastructure associated with the production process.

Petrobras, however, has kept the option open for a potential partnership with PetroReconcavo in Bahia-Terra.

Petrobras CEO Jean Paul Prates was quoted by the news agency as saying to reporters: “We are reaching out to Petroreconcavo. We have a good relationship with them, they are a serious company and we are having good conversations.”

The sale of the Bahia-Terra cluster was part of the company’s broader divestment plan aimed at reducing its high debt levels. The divestment plan also included offloading refineries and non-core oil and gas fields.