Exxon Mobil Corp has bet billions of dollars on offshore drilling in Brazil, an area it once abandoned and now sees as key to its future.
Exxon pulled back from two near-partnerships with Petrobras
Exxon told Reuters that hydrocarbons were found at another block it's exploring in a 50-50 partnership with Petrobras as lead operator about 120 miles off Rio de Janeiro. Exxon said drilling at a well dubbed Mairare was completed in August and data was still being analyzed to determine how to proceed.
That's a pile of cash. Still, those two blocks already are producing almost 1 million barrels per day of oil and gas. In December, Buzios alone was producing 739,000 bpd, according to ANP. That's more than the entire country of Venezuela averaged last year. Petrobras plans to ramp up Buzios production to nearly 2 million bpd this decade.
In 2005, it was the only international oil major that held licenses in the so-called pre-salt, a vast petroleum formation under a thick layer of salt in the Atlantic seabed. The oil-rich region twice the size of Manhattan would vault Brazil among the world's Top 10 oil producers and reap riches not only for home-grown Petrobras, but foreign companies including Europe's Equinor and Shell PLC.