(Bloomberg) -- TotalEnergies SE is interested in partnering with Petrobras on projects outside of Brazil as the French supermajor expands in Latin America’s most populous nation, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said Monday.
Namibia, Suriname and Angola were among the areas Pouyanne mentioned as potential cooperation zones. In Brazil, the offshore Mero project in the so-called pre-salt region, where Total has a partnership with Petrobras, is growing fast, he said.
Total executives uses a $50-to-$60-a-barrel benchmark to test the viability of oil projects when presenting them for board approval, and is “very close” to approving a 220,000-barrel-a-day project in Suriname, he said at a conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Total’s interest in partnering with Petrobras abroad highlights a rebound in interest in high-risk, offshore exploration at a time when the energy transition appears to be taking longer than what was expected a few years ago.
“Petrobras is ready to explore abroad and in the Atlantic Basin, so I keep that in mind,” Pouyanne said. “And if we have opportunities, as we’re exploring in different countries, we could offer to Petrobras to participate.”
Aside from offshore oil, Total also has large investments in wind energy in Brazil and sees more potential in onshore wind than offshore, which Pouyanne said could wait a few years.
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