Brazil Offshore Oil Consolidation Gets Boost From Europe Crisis

The ongoing European debt crisis is reviving interest in Brazilian oil and natural gas fields, with cash-rich oil companies seeking entry into one of the world's top frontiers.

"The international crisis is making companies stop and think about what they want to do with the cash they have," said Adriano Pires, who directs local energy consultancy the Brazilian Center for Infrastructure. "Brazil is becoming more attractive for investors."

Brazil's oil industry has seen a pickup in the number of oil field sales in recent months, with companies seeking a foothold in the promising offshore exploration areas despite delays to government auctions of new acreage.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) is the latest stakeholder in the sights of buyers, with the Financial Times reporting Sunday that France's Total SA (TOT, FP.FR), Norway's Statoil ASA (STO, STL.OS) and Denmark's Maersk Oil are all interested in buying Anadarko's stakes in seven offshore blocks.

That's a sharp turnaround from the lull that took place after Brazil decided to change its oil laws and give the government a greater stake in the much-ballyhooed region known as the presalt, which lies miles below the Atlantic Ocean floor off the southeast coast.

"I think there were a lot of uncertainties," Pires said, noting the proposed changes to Brazil's regulatory regime and the 2010 presidential election. "That caused investors to pull back."

In addition, a number of companies put acreage up for sale at high prices, hoping to capitalize on euphoria surrounding the presalt discoveries. Asset prices also got a boost when the government halted auctions of offshore exploration areas in the wake of the presalt discoveries, which were the largest the world had seen in 30 years when announced in 2007. The volume of exploration acreage that hit the market created a buyers' market for offshore assets, analysts said.

OGX Petroleo e Gas Participacoes S/A (OGXPY, OGXP3.BR), part of billionaire Brazilian businessman Eike Batista's industrial empire, decided not to sell a 30% stake in its Campos Basin portfolio. Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. (KRNGY, KAR.AU) and France's Perenco also canceled plans to sell shares in their local units, which hold offshore prospects in Brazil.

Brazil likely underwent a "superappreciation" of offshore oil assets in the wake of the presalt discoveries that scared off potential investors, said Pires. "The euphoria phase for the local oil industry has ended, now [that the industry] is entering a more realistic phase that could provoke business consolidation."

China's voracious appetite for natural resources has been a key driver in the recent consolidation spree. Perenco kicked off 2012 by selling a 10% stake in five offshore exploration blocks in the Espirito Santo Basin to state-run Sinochem. Sinochem previously acquired a 40% stake in Statoil's Peregrino field for $3.1 billion.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (SNP, 0386.HK, 600028.SH), also known as Sinopec, recently paid $5 billion for a 30% stake in the Brazilian unit of Portugal's Galp Energia SGPS S/A (GALP.LB) and $7 billion for a 40% share of the Brazilian arm of Spanish oil company Repsol YPF SA (REPYY, REP.MC).

Chinese companies have also reportedly been sniffing around assets held by BG Group PLC (BRGYY, BG.LN) in the Santos Basin presalt cluster. Sinopec is already the second-largest stakeholder in the area after Brazilian state oil company Petroleo Brasileiro S/A (PBR, PETR4.BR).

-By Jeff Fick, Dow Jones Newswires; 55-21-2586-6085; [e-mail]