China’s oil and gas giant CNOOC has paid Brazil’s Petrobras $1.9 billion to buy 5% in the production sharing contract for the huge Buzios offshore oilfield, the Brazilian state oil firm said in a statement. After the agreement, subject to approval from Brazil’s ministry of energy and mines, comes into effect, Petrobras will hold 85% in the production sharing contract for Buzios, CNOOC’s unit CNOOC Petroleum Brasil Ltda. (CPBL) will have 10%, and CNODC Brasil Petróleo e Gás Ltda (CNODC), will have 5%, the Brazilian firm said.

The Buzios oilfield in Brazil’s prolific pre-salt Santos basin is the prized asset and largest oilfield of Petrobras and is expected to account for around one-third of the state firm’s production in 2026, Petrobras said in its third-quarter results released earlier this month. Seven more development stages in various areas of Buzios are being planned through 2027.

Buzios produces more than 600,000 barrels of oil per day, and is expected to produce much more in the future as Petrobras is signing and plans to sign more deals for Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units via which it is developing the deepwater field.

Brazil’s oil and gas production hit a new record in October of 4.18 million barrels of oil equivalent per day on average (boepd), including 3.24 million barrels per day (bpd) of oil and 148.7 million cubic meters per day of natural gas, industry watchdog ANP said last week. Oil and gas production was 3.2% higher than the previous record set in September and 16% higher than in October 2021. 

Brazil’s production from the pre-salt layer rose by 4.75% in October 2022 compared to September 2022, to reach 3.14 million boepd, accounting for 75.18% of all oil and gas production in Brazil.