Brazilian Petrobras Changes its Mind About Selling 44% Stake in Promising Offshore Gas Project
Brazilian state oil company Petrobras has abandoned a plan to sell its 44% stake in a promising offshore gas project on the Tayrona block, 32km off the coast of Colombia, which it shares with Colombian Ecopetrol, Reuters reported, citing a statement by Petrobras’ director of production development on energy conference in Houston. Petrobras is analyzing information from the latest drilling campaign. Depending on this analysis, it is possible that the drilling process planned for 2024 will be accelerated. Last year, Petrobras and Ecopetrol announced the discovery of natural gas in the Uchuva-1 deepwater well on the Tayrona block, 32 kilometers off the coast of Colombia. Two years earlier, a Brazilian company put its stake up for sale due to poor exploration results from the previous well, Orca-1.
Petrobras operates the Tayrona block, which is expected to provide Colombia’s first deepwater gas production in 2026 by connecting to nearby infrastructure.
Colombia wants to speed up the discovery and development of its offshore gas reserves to avoid the need for imports and to develop industries ranging from energy to petrochemicals.
According to Petrobras’ director of production development, Tyrone’s natural gas reserves can be confirmed at 4 trillion cubic feet, making it a very promising project.
