BP, Europe's second-largest oil company, could win approval from Brazil's national oil regulator to formally acquire $3.2 billion in offshore assets from Devon Energy later this month. The deal was announced last year and the two companies were hoping to have closed the deal by the end of the year, but Brazilian officials have been slow to ratify the agreement following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Oklahoma-based Devon (DVN) agreed to sell BP 10 Brazilian blocks as part of its plan to divest international and offshore assets. Eight of the 10 blocks BP hopes to acquire from Devon are located offshore in waters that are far deeper than the Macondo well was in the Gulf.
Brazil's oil regulator, ANP, has been reviewing BP's (BP) application to acquire the Devon assets for over a year. The blocks BP wants to acquire from Devon are located in the oil-rich Campos Basin. The Polvo field Devon operates in shallow waters of the Campos Basin produced 12,265 barrels a day in January, Bloomberg News reported, citing ANP.
The formal approval of the Devon asset purchase could not come at a better time for BP, which has seen its partnership with Russia's OAO Rosneft imperiled due to legal wrangling. BP is also currently without approval from U.S. regulators to resume work in the Gulf.
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