The partnership split ten blocks awarded in the Fifth Permanent Concession Offering Cycle conducted by Brazil’s petroleum regulator ANP. Petrobras operates five blocks—FZA-M-1040, FZA-M-1042, FZA-M-188, FZA-M-190 and FZA-M-403—and awaits Ibama approval for those concessions. ExxonMobil operates the remaining five blocks FZA-M-477, FZA-M-547, FZA-M-549, FZA-M-619 and FZA-M-621, with Petrobras maintaining equal ownership in each.
The joint ventures position both companies in Brazil’s Equatorial Margin, where Petrobras is among several operators benefiting from a 3D seismic survey contracted to SLB and Shearwater GeoServices. Chevron is studying an area approximately 130 kilometers from Petrobras’s Morpho exploratory well, the basin’s first confirmed oil discovery.
Petrobras has secured Ibama authorization to drill three wells adjacent to Morpho and awaits permits for five additional wells in blocks near FZA-M-59. Anjos emphasized current priorities center on drilling the Manga and Crotalus prospects plus a Morpho extension. The company must confirm commercial oil viability before advancing logistical infrastructure decisions.
ExxonMobil senior vice president Hunter Farris stated at the same conference September 22 that the company wants participation in Brazil’s next oil development chapter. He cited Guyana, where Exxon production should exceed one million barrels daily in 2026, as evidence the company can contribute to northern offshore development. Farris provided no investment figures or drilling timeline for Brazil.
Anjos separately confirmed Petrobras is prioritizing African exploration over Venezuela, announcing a memorandum of understanding with Mozambique’s national oil company ENH on September 23 and citing eight production-sharing contracts signed recently in Ivory Coast. In Colombia, studies continue on the Sandia-1 deepwater gas discovery, where Petrobras plans an innovative subsea-to-shore pipeline system eliminating platform infrastructure requirements for methane transport.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
