Brazilian M&A activity heats up

As Petrobras starts to wind down its portfolio divestment, Brazil is entering a new era of upstream consolidation

The race to capture upstream Brazilian assets has been frantic over the past five months, with several independent portfolios transformed by M&A acquisitions. One of the main beneficiaries, Rio de Janeiro-based operator 3R Petroleum, has already almost doubled its reserves in 2022 with the acquisitions of the Potiguar and Reconcavo onshore clusters from Brazilian state-controlled oil and gas firm Petrobras. The NOC’s divestment programme has proved an abundant source of assets for many independent E&Ps. And activity has not been restricted to just small maturing fields. In late April, a subsidiary of Brazilian operator Petrorio agreed to pay $2bn for a 90pc interest in the Albacora L