French Total to Buy Shares in Brazilian Oil Fields Worth $2.2 Bln - Petrobras

The French company Total will buy shares of the Brazilian oil fields and energy facilities worth $2.2 billion, Brazilian company Petrobras, which currently owns the oil fields, said on Thursday.

MEXICO CITY (Sputnik) — According to the company's financial director, Ivan Monteiro, Petrobras will receive $ 1.6 billion in cash within 60 days.

In particular, Total is due to get a share of 22.5 percent in the Iara Oil Field as part of the BM S-11 block, while Petrobras will remain the operator with its share of 42.5 percent.

The French company also buys 35 percent of the recently launched Lapa deep-water field, the BM-S-9 block. Petrobras will retain 10 percent of the project.

Both oil fields are part the Santos Basin, which is an offshore pre-salt basin located in the south Atlantic Ocean some 190 miles south east of Santos, Brazil. The basin, one of the largest and in Brazil,, and has been profoundly discovered in the last decade.

In addition, Total will become a 50-percent shareholder in the two thermoelectric power plants, the Romulo de Almeida and and the Celso Furtado, both started in 2004, with the capacities of 138 MW and 186 MW, respectively.

The Brazilian company will also receive a 20-percent share in the Perdido Foldbelt field in Mexican part of the Gulf of Mexico.

The two energy companies will be jointly using the liquefied natural gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal Bahia (TRBA), and carry out joint geological studies in the Santos Basin.