Brazil’s state-owned oil company, Petrobras, is preparing for a comeback to Nigeria’s oil and gas industry, five years after halting its joint venture operations in the country.
The move, confirmed during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s state visit to Brazil, is expected to revive long-standing energy ties between the two nations.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) announced that Petrobras has expressed strong interest in Nigeria’s deepwater and ultra-deepwater upstream opportunities.
The disclosure followed a meeting between NNPCL’s Executive Vice-President for Upstream, Udy Ntia, and Petrobras Chief Executive Officer, Magda Chambriard, on the sidelines of the visit.
According to NNPCL, discussions with Petrobras focused on “rebuilding energy partnerships between Nigeria and Brazil” and inviting the oil giant to resume operations in Nigeria.
The company highlighted that with 37 billion barrels of crude oil reserves and 200 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves, Nigeria offers an attractive environment for collaboration, especially with tax incentives and a more stable regulatory framework now in place.
READ ALSO: Five years after Abule-Ado blast, encroachments on NNPC pipeline raise fresh fears
President Tinubu, speaking at a joint press conference in Brasília, described Petrobras’s imminent re-entry as a “milestone that will reignite robust economic cooperation” in the oil and gas sector.
He urged the company to quickly partner with Nigeria in harnessing its abundant gas resources.
“We have the largest gas repository. So, I don’t see why Petrobras doesn’t join as a partner in Nigeria as soon as possible. I appreciate President Lula’s promise that this will be done as soon as possible,” Tinubu said in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The renewed interest comes years after Petrobras divested about $21 billion worth of assets in 2017, following a sharp increase in its debt profile, which had ballooned to $100 billion. By 2021, the company had completely exited its Nigerian operations.
During the state visit, the NNPCL delegation also participated in a high-level business roundtable hosted by Citi Brasil in São Paulo, engaging senior government officials and private sector leaders from both countries. The session explored avenues for increased trade, investment flows, and infrastructure financing.
In addition, Nigeria and Brazil signed five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) covering trade, diplomacy, aviation, finance, and scientific cooperation, signaling a broadening of bilateral relations beyond oil.
With Petrobras now considering re-entry into Nigeria’s upstream sector, industry analysts say the development could attract fresh capital, boost deepwater exploration, and strengthen Nigeria’s drive to reposition itself as Africa’s top investment destination in energy.