EXCLUSIVE-Petrobras bids for Galp’s oil field in Namibia, seeking opportunity abroad

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By Marta Nogueira

ARACAJU, Brazil, July 26 (Reuters) – Brazil’s state-run oil firm Petrobras has made a non-binding offer to buy a major stake in Galp Energia’s huge offshore oil discovery in Namibia, Petrobras exploration and production director Sylvia dos Anjos told Reuters on Friday.

If accepted, the bid would make Petrobras the operator of the Mopane oil and gas field, which has an estimated 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent, Anjos said in her first interview since taking her new role last month.

“We are the best deepwater operators,” said Anjos on the sidelines of an oil and gas conference in the northeastern state of Sergipe. “If (Galp) don’t choose us, it’s their loss.”

Petrobras is seeking opportunities abroad due to “unacceptable” difficulty in getting environmental licenses to explore new areas in Brazil, Anjos said.

The firm has hit stiff resistance from Indigenous groups and environmental regulators slowing its efforts to drill in promising offshore areas near the mouth of the Amazon River.

Workers at environmental agency Ibama have also been slow-walking all licensing this year due to a labor dispute.

“We want to work in Brazil, but if we are not welcome, we will go somewhere else, and we will maintain our production,” Anjos said.

More than 12 rivals, including Exxon and Shell , have expressed interest in buying a 40% stake in Galp Energia’s oil field, Reuters previously reported. Anjos did not say whether the bid was to buy the full 40% or a smaller share. (Reporting by Marta Nogeuira Writing by Fabio Teixeira Editing by Brad Haynes and Rod Nickel)

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