Petrobras announces net $859 million settlement with Santos Basin partners

Key Facts

Petrobras announced on 13 October 2026 that it would receive a net amount of approximately $859 million under cost and volume equalization agreements with its Santos Basin partners. The company said in an official filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the payments would come from Shell, TotalEnergies and Petrogal. The agreements cover the Berbigão and Sururu reservoirs and their associated shared assets, following the entry into force of the unitization agreements. The equalization reallocates proceeds and financial obligations among the parties in proportion to their interests in the shared reservoirs. The company defined its scope as covering "production revenue, capital expenditure, operating expenses and oil royalties."

According to Petrobras' filing, its interest in the unitized Berbigão reservoir is 62.913%, while its interest in the unitized Sururu reservoir is 45.394%. The company also holds a 100% interest in the Transfer of Rights contract area that forms part of the two shared reservoirs. In the consortium's concession area, Petrobras, the operator, holds 42.5%, according to the company's official financial statements. Its partners' concession interests are split between Shell at 25%, TotalEnergies at 22.5% and Petrogal at 10%. The contractual structure for the two reservoirs thus combines a concession area shared by Petrobras and its partners with a Transfer of Rights area wholly held by the company.

The unitization process dates back to applications submitted by the consortium in 2018, according to an official investor announcement from Galp. Galp said the two reservoirs extend beyond the concession area's boundaries into the Transfer of Rights area, providing the geographical basis for the unitization agreements. Brazil's National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels approved the agreements on 30 April 2026, according to Petrobras' financial statements. They then took effect on 1 May 2026. Petrobras subsequently announced the signing of cost and volume equalization agreements covering the allocation of production revenue, capital expenditure, expenses and royalties according to the contractual interests.

The two fields began production in 2019, according to Galp, before regulatory approval of the unitization agreements. Production takes place through the P-68 floating production, storage and offloading unit, which serves Berbigão and Sururu in the Santos Basin. The unit has a production capacity of 150 thousand barrels a day, according to Galp's announcement on the unitization approval. Galp described the fields' resources as comprising high-quality, low-sulfur oil, along with associated natural gas. Petrobras said in its project description that oil is transported by tankers, while gas is transported through pre-salt pipelines.

Petrobras' net profit reached $10.4 billion in the second quarter of 2026, according to its quarterly financial results. That represented a 97% increase from the same period in 2025. The company's own production hit a record 3.34 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the second quarter of 2026, according to its production and sales report. The previous record for its own production was 3.23 million barrels of oil equivalent a day in the first quarter of the same year. In the Wednesday trading session following the announcement of the equalization agreements, Petrobras' preferred shares rose 2.22%, while its common shares gained 1.94%.

Petrobras linked its share price movements to oil prices and corporate news, including the cost and volume equalization agreements, according to a statement published on 15 October 2026. The company plans to publish its production and sales report for the third quarter of 2026 on 28 October 2026, according to its disclosure schedule filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Financial results for the same period will follow on 10 November 2026. For the amount due from its partners, Petrobras set a settlement deadline of November 2026. The payment settlement period thus coincides with the month in which the company will announce its third-quarter financial results.