Petrobras buys into Equinor’s Itaimbezinho pre-salt block
State major takes 50% of a Campos Basin pre-salt block off Rio de Janeiro
Petrobras has agreed to acquire a 50% stake in the Itaimbezinho block, a pre-salt area in Brazil's Campos Basin about 190 km off Rio de Janeiro, from partner Equinor. Once the deal completes, Equinor will operate the block with a 50% share alongside Petrobras, with Pre-Sal Petroleo (PPSA) managing the production sharing contract. The companies did not disclose a value, and the transaction still needs clearance from competition regulator CADE and oil and gas regulator ANP.
The block lies within Brazil's Pre-Salt Polygon, next to the Raia project and the Jaspe exploratory licence where the two firms already work together, and close to the producing Marlim, Roncador and Barracuda fields. For Petrobras the move adds acreage in one of the world's most prolific deepwater plays.
The purchase fits a broader expansion. The FPSO P-78 began producing at the Buzios field in December 2025 with capacity of 180,000 barrels per day, helping lift Petrobras output to three million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2025, up 11%. In February 2026 Brazil set a national record of 5.304 million boe/d, with Petrobras responsible for about 89% of it, and the company posted first-quarter net profit of 32.7 billion reais.
Equinor has operated in Brazil since the 1990s, holding stakes in Raia, Peregrino and Carcara, while Petrobras' 2025-2029 plan earmarks about $111bn of investment, most of it aimed at pre-salt exploration and production.
