Petrobras informed that the National Oil Agency approved a settlement offer to end a lawsuit between multiple government agencies and the Brazilian state-controlled oil and gas behemoth over the Jubarte deepwater oil field. Petrobras offered to pay BRL 780 million (USD 152 million).
The Mines and Energy Ministry, the Solicitor General’s Office, and Petrobras’s own governance sector must still weigh in on the deal. Part of the amount to be paid by Petrobras will go to the municipalities of Itapemirim, Marataízes, and Presidente Kennedy.
In 2016, authorities accused Petrobras of omitting updates to the oil stream used in the Jubarte oil field, in the Campos Basin. The omission, classified as an infraction, made royalty distribution and other government participation smaller than they should have been. Since 2019, all parties are working to figure out an agreement.
For the new indemnity value, the parties took into account the highest reference price used in the Campos Basin. In addition, the amount owed by Petrobras received a 20 percent fine and was updated according to the Selic rate, Brazil’s benchmark interest rate (currently at 13.75 percent).
Located on the coast of the state of Espírito Santo, the Jubarte oil field was the first in Brazil to see drilling in the pre-salt deepwater layer, in September 2008. It is among Petrobras’s top five oil fields in terms of production — after Tupi, Búzios, Sapinhoá, and Roncador, according to BNamericas, a business intelligence platform.
Marcelo Altoé, Espírito Santo’s state finance secretary, recently highlighted the importance of this agreement at this moment of loss of revenue for both the state and municipalities.
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