Foresea has secured a long-term contract with Petrobras to operate the drillship ODN I offshore Brazil, adding about $465 million to its backlog. The agreement covers a 1,443-day campaign in the Mero Field, with operations expected to start in 2027 after the unit’s current contract ends.
The deal includes early termination and extension options. The award highlights strong demand for high-spec rigs in Brazil, where Petrobras continues expanding pre-salt developments to support production growth.
Petrobras announced a new discovery of high-quality oil in the pre-salt layer of the Campos Basin. The find was made in the Marlim Sul Field, at a well located 113 km off the coast of Campos dos Goytacazes.
The presence of oil was identified through electric logs and fluid samples. The material will undergo laboratory analysis to assess the area’s potential. The company said drilling was completed safely and with environmental care. Petrobras holds a 100% stake in the field.
Brazil’s Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPor), through the Merchant Marine Fund Directing Council (CDFMM), approved a package of 13 projects totalling R$ 6 billion in investments at its 62nd Ordinary Meeting, held on March 18. The approved portfolio is expected to generate approximately 2,800 direct jobs and enable 95 projects across the naval and port sectors.
The two largest projects together account for over R$ 4.3 billion of the total approved. Porto Central, a deep-water port development in the state of Espírito Santo, received approval for R$ 2.18 billion in port infrastructure investment, reinforcing the country’s logistics capacity along the southeastern coast. Close behind, Petrobras secured R$ 2.17 billion for the construction of four vessels designed to carry petroleum derivatives — a move aligned with the company’s strategy to expand its own fleet and reduce exposure to chartering costs. The third largest project was awarded to GDE Transportes, which will receive R$ 380.3 million for the construction of 35 vessels for fuel transportation in Brazil’s North region, where waterway transport is structurally critical to local supply chain operations.
BNDES (Source: Courtesy)
Beyond vessel construction, the approved portfolio covers inland navigation, maritime support vessels, and cargo shipping, as well as maintenance, repair and modernisation works at shipyards across several Brazilian states. New project submissions can be presented until April 20, 2026, and approved projects will have up to 450 days — extendable by a further 180 days — to finalise financing agreements with qualified lending institutions, including BNDES, Banco do Brasil, Banco da Amazônia, Banco do Nordeste and Caixa Econômica Federal.
The 63rd Ordinary Meeting of the CDFMM is scheduled for June 18, 2026. The approval comes amid a consistent acceleration of the Fund: throughout 2025, the FMM approved R$ 31.8 billion spread across more than 700 projects, with projections for 2026 pointing to up to R$ 34 billion in new approvals.
The scale and pace of FMM approvals in 2026 reflect a deliberate policy shift, one that elevates port and naval infrastructure to a strategic pillar of national competitiveness — rather than treating it merely as a regional development tool. The concentration of over 70% of this latest round in just two projects (Porto Central and Petrobras’ fleet expansion) signals a clear preference for priority investments, which is a coherent approach given the Fund’s leverage potential. However, the success of this agenda will ultimately depend on execution: the sector’s track record of converting approvals into operational vessels and functional port terminals within contractual deadlines remains a legitimate concern — and one the market is watching with a degree of skepticism.
No changes were recorded across ongoing offshore tenders. Current opportunities remain active under previously disclosed terms and deadlines.
What has changed?
– No updates.
What else is happening?
– Petrobras is monitoring fuel supply dynamics after at least six vessels carrying refined fuels changed destination, as domestic pricing below import parity continues to impact import flows and delay cargo discharge decisions.
– Transpetro – Petrobras Transporte S. A. is expanding its commercial activity beyond Petrobras, securing new contracts with Trafigura and Ipiranga, signaling gradual diversification in Brazil’s shipping market.
– Petrobras awarded long-term turbomachinery service agreements to Baker Hughes, covering multiple offshore and onshore assets, reinforcing maintenance and reliability strategies across its portfolio.
– Offshore vessel demand remains supported by recent contract awards, with Oceanica securing multi-year agreements with Petrobras totaling approximately USD 736 million for subsea and support vessel operations.
– Brazil’s Merchant Marine Fund (FMM) approved approximately BRL 6 billion in new projects across shipbuilding, logistics and port infrastructure, supporting future demand for domestic offshore and maritime assets.
– Edison Chouest Offshore announced a shareholder movement involving its Brazilian operations, signaling continued strategic positioning by international players in Brazil’s offshore support vessel market.
There is a certain seduction in simple narratives.
Petrobras sold a 50% stake in Tartaruga Verde and the Module III of Espadarte to PETRONAS in 2019 for roughly US$1.2 billion. Six years later, it is buying that same stake back for approximately US$450 million. The conclusion, widely circulated in market commentary, appears self-evident: Petrobras sold high, PETRONAS bought high — and then sold low.
It is a compelling story. It is also, on closer inspection, fundamentally misleading.
What appears to be a case of value destruction is, in reality, a case of value extraction — and a useful lens through which to understand how capital has actually been deployed in Brazil’s upstream sector.
The first source of confusion lies in the numbers themselves. The US$1.2 billion headline in 2019 incorporated economic adjustments, including cash flows generated between the effective date and closing, implying a lower underlying asset valuation. The repurchase price today is likewise subject to interim performance adjustments. Even after normalising for these effects, however, PETRONAS is exiting at a lower nominal price than it entered.
But upstream economics are not determined at entry or exit alone. They are determined in the years in between — in the conversion of reserves into cash.
When PETRONAS acquired its stake, Tartaruga Verde was at a particularly attractive point in its lifecycle. Capital expenditure had largely been deployed, production was near peak, and the asset was transitioning into a cash-generative phase. For a non-operating partner, this is precisely where value tends to concentrate.
Over the following years, that positioning proved advantageous. Production remained resilient in the early period, oil prices recovered sharply post-pandemic, and the asset delivered exposure to offshore barrels without incremental capital burden. In effect, PETRONAS did not simply acquire reserves in the ground, but barrels already in motion — and monetised them at favourable points in the cycle.
By the time of exit, the picture had shifted. Production had declined, the asset had matured, and the remaining reserves offered a less intense near-term cash profile. To focus on the exit price without accounting for the cash extracted along the way is to miss the central economic logic of the transaction.
Our analysis suggests that PETRONAS likely recovered its initial investment through cumulative cash flows over the holding period. The exit price, therefore, should be seen not as the return itself, but as what remained after the return had already been realised. This is closer in nature to a private equity-style strategy: enter post-development, harvest cash during a favourable cycle, and exit before the steeper phase of decline. Such strategies are not designed to maximise terminal value, but to optimise internal rate of return — and on that measure, the transaction stands out.
Placing this deal within the broader Brazilian M&A landscape reinforces the point. Mapping transactions across execution risk and expected returns reveals a wide dispersion of outcomes. A small subset of deals — typically driven by timing or targeted operational intervention — cluster in the high-return, controlled-risk quadrant. PETRONAS’ investment in Tartaruga Verde fits squarely within this group. Others, driven by scale or consolidation, tend to deliver more institutional returns, while more complex portfolios — often involving operational integration or technical challenges — carry higher risk without necessarily offering proportionate upside.
Within this framework, Petrobras’ re-entry sits in a different category altogether. The implied returns are more moderate, but the rationale is not primarily financial arbitrage. Rather, it reflects a strategic decision to consolidate control over a producing asset in which the company is already operator, simplifying governance and potentially unlocking operational synergies across its portfolio.
This distinction is essential. PETRONAS approached the asset as an investor, optimising for cash yield and timing. Petrobras is approaching it as an operator and long-term holder, optimising for control and integration. The same barrels can support different valuations depending on the strategy applied to them.
More broadly, the transaction exemplifies a recurring feature of the Brazilian upstream market: asset quality alone does not determine outcomes. Several of the most successful deals in recent years have involved mature or technically complex fields. What differentiates performance is not geology, but execution — and, in some cases, simply timing. The same asset, under different operators or strategies, can produce materially different returns.
Viewed in this light, the Petrobras–PETRONAS sequence is less a contradiction than a transition. In 2019, Petrobras divested a non-core stake to optimise its balance sheet, while PETRONAS entered to capture yield. In 2025, those roles have effectively reversed: PETRONAS exits after harvesting value, and Petrobras re-enters to reinforce its core portfolio. Both decisions are internally consistent. The perceived asymmetry arises only when they are judged through the same lens.
The broader lesson is straightforward, if often overlooked. In upstream oil and gas, value is rarely created at a single point in time. It is created along the production curve — through timing, execution, and strategic alignment.
For those focused solely on headline prices, the Petrobras–PETRONAS deal may appear puzzling. For those looking at the full economic cycle, it is something else entirely:
A well-executed trade on one side, and a strategic repositioning on the other.
What else?
“Coming soon…
I’ve seen a number of takes suggesting that PETRONAS “lost money” on this deal — buying high and selling low.
The reality is quite the opposite.
When you properly unpack the cash flows, timing, and production profile, this turns out to be one of the most efficient upstream trades executed in Brazil in recent years.
Following this divestment, PETRONAS would rank 1 in my Brazil oil and gas deal league table — not despite the exit price, but because of it.
As for Petrobras, the narrative is more nuanced.
Selling at ~US$1.2 billion and re-entering at a fraction of that does not, in itself, define value creation or destruction. The economics sit beneath the headline numbers — and the strategic rationale is far more complex than the surface suggests.
More to come.”, reflects Alexandre Vilela, CEO of WSB Advisors.
PRIO reported that it has received from Ibama an amended drilling license for the Frade Field. With this authorization, the company will be able to drill up to 14 new wells in the asset, located in the Campos Basin.
The operation is expected to be carried out using the offshore drilling unit Hunter Queen, capable of operating in deepwater environments and supporting both drilling and intervention campaigns. The unit was acquired by PRIO from Foresea in 2022. The field is currently operated by the FPSO Valente, which has a production capacity of up to 100,000 barrels per day. In the fourth quarter of 2025, Frade recorded an average production of approximately 31,500 barrels per day.
The unit is characterized as a 6th-generation semi-submersible drilling rig equipped with dynamic positioning, capable of operating in water depths of up to 3,000 meters and supporting complex offshore drilling campaigns. Built in 2011 in Singapore, it can accommodate around 180 personnel.
PRIO also stated that it will disclose the schedule for the new drilling activities in due course.
Oceânica Engenharia has signed a series of subsea service contracts with Petrobras totaling approximately US$736 million, according to company disclosures. Agreements have a four-year duration, with offshore operations expected to begin in the first half of 2027 and extend through 2031.
Contracts include renewal of charter agreements for several vessels in Oceânica’s diving support fleet, which will continue providing inspection, maintenance and subsea intervention services across Petrobras’ offshore production systems.
Oceanicasub VII (Source: Ocêanica)
Fleet scope
SDSV vessels (Shallow Diving Support Vessels): Oceanicasub IV, V, VII and IX
Services: inspection, maintenance and subsea intervention
Assets deployed: workclass ROVs, electric ROVs and diving systems
RSV segment: contract renewal for Oceanicasub VIII
Company also announced addition of Oceanicasub VI to its subsea fleet, expanding operational capacity.
According to Oceânica, agreements increase backlog to around R$12 billion. Earlier in January 2026, company had already secured contract for Oceanicasub XV, valued at approximately R$500 million.
Our view: What’s behind these developments
A new contracting cycle is underway
Brazil is entering a new subsea contracting cycle. A significant share of vessel contracts signed between 2018 and 2021 is reaching expiration between 2025 and 2027, triggering a wave of renewals and new tenders.
Market is now seeing:
renewal of existing vessel contracts
extension of ongoing offshore campaigns
gradual addition of new vessels
This cycle is expected to sustain demand for subsea support services through the end of the decade.
Pre-salt growth continues to drive demand
Expansion of infrastructure in Santos Basin remains the primary demand driver.
Each new development adds complex subsea systems, including:
subsea trees
manifolds
flowlines
injection and control systems
As this network grows, operators require continuous vessel support for inspection, maintenance and intervention.
Demand becomes structural — not tied only to new field start-ups.
Positioning of SDSVs
Recent tenders highlight consistent utilization of SDSVs (Shallow Diving Support Vessels) in shallow and mid-depth intervention scopes.
These vessels combine:
ROV capability
diving systems
direct subsea intervention capability
This configuration allows operators to execute maintenance campaigns with lower mobilization costs and faster response times, particularly for less complex intervention scopes.
Petrobras shifting back to longer contracts
Another clear trend is return to longer contract durations.
After a period of shorter agreements (2–3 years), recent tenders from Petrobras are increasingly structured around four-year terms or longer.
Longer contracts:
secure vessel availability
provide revenue visibility for contractors
support fleet upgrades and operational planning
Fleet expansion in a concentrated market
Brazil is consolidating one of the largest subsea support vessel clusters globally, concentrated in Santos Basin.
Key hubs include:
Búzios Field
Mero Field
Sépia Field
Atapu Field
Each new FPSO increases subsea complexity and reinforces long-term demand for vessel support.
Backlog reflects scale of the cycle
Oceânica’s R$12 billion backlog highlights scale and visibility of current cycle.
Multi-year contracts are providing:
predictable cash flow for contractors
sustained fleet utilization
support for continued offshore expansion
Brazil is consolidating its position as one of the largest global markets for subsea support vessels, supported by scale of its pre-salt infrastructure.
The ultra-deepwater drillship Norbe IX has departed its anchorage position off Angra dos Reis, Rio de Janeiro, ahead of the start of a three-year drilling contract valued at approximately US$417 million with Petrobras, according to an official statement released by Foresea. Operations are scheduled to begin in early 2026 in Brazil’s pre-salt province.
The unit had remained approximately 6 nautical miles off Angra dos Reis since early January 2026, undergoing a planned maintenance stop of around 60 days ahead of the upcoming campaign.
Source: Alexandre Vilela/WSB Advisors
Scope of maintenance included:
– Drilling equipment – Thrusters – Diesel generators – BOP system – Fire and gas detection upgrades – DNV class renewal – Piping replacement and general hull painting
Such maintenance windows are typical ahead of new offshore drilling campaigns, ensuring full operational readiness prior to mobilization. Contract highlights
– Operator: Petrobras – Fields: Sépia Field and Itapu Field – Basin: Santos Basin – Term: ~ 3 years – Contract value: ~ US$417 million, including mobilization fees – Start of operations: early 2026
Built in 2011 at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Norbe IX is a DP3 dynamically positioned ultra-deepwater drillship designed for high-spec offshore drilling campaigns. The unit is capable of operating in water depths up to 3,048 m (10,000 ft) and drilling wells to approximately 12,195 m (40,000 ft). Accommodation capacity is around 180 personnel, with a 15,000-psi BOP system.
The vessel measures 238 m LOA with a 42 m beam, placing it among the high-spec drillships currently active in Brazil’s ultra-deepwater segment.
With this award, Foresea reported its fleet fully contracted through at least late-2026, reflecting sustained demand for ultra-deepwater drilling capacity supporting Brazil’s expanding pre-salt drilling programs
In the last day of 2025, Copacabana’s New Year’s Eve celebration in Rio de Janeiro entered the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world. The spectacle held along Brazil’s most iconic beachfront brought together around 2.6 million people and featured Camorim as a key player in the complex fireworks operation.
Responsible for supporting the scale of the event, Camorim led the maritime operation with excellence, mobilizing 150 professionals and 46 vessels — including 19 barges, 14 tugboats, 12 speedboats, and one shear crane. It was the work of hundreds of hands that, year after year, ensures the safety and visual impact that have made Copacabana a global New Year’s Eve reference.
Although Camorim’s operations also extend to other major New Year’s Eve celebrations, it is in Copacabana that the company carries out its most emblematic operation. The transition from 2025 to 2026 featured 12 minutes of fireworks, performances by samba schools, and artists from different musical genres, further elevating the spectacle.
The operation begins long before the countdown
The New Year’s Eve machinery starts turning weeks in advance. On December 20, the barge preparation process was completed at Camorim’s bases. Between December 21 and 25, the fireworks were assembled and organized. On December 28 and 29, the pre-anchoring operation was carried out — an essential stage to ensure the vessels remain securely positioned during the fireworks display.
The official countdown to the New Year began on December 30. From 7:00 p.m. onward, the barges were towed to Copacabana and strategically positioned along the shoreline, in a process that lasted until the morning of December 31. Still on the last daay of the year, Camorim teams monitored the transverse alignment of the barges in relation to the beach, while the Harbor Master’s Office inspected each stage of the operation.
Final authorization for the fireworks display, granted by the Navy at 11:30 p.m. on December 31, depends on weather conditions — a factor that requires heightened attention and immediate response capability. In some years, this clearance is given only in the final minutes, underscoring the importance of experience and trust in the team.
While the public celebrates, the operation continues. A group of ten professionals monitors the entire process on land, and about one hour after the fireworks end, the dismantling process and return of the barges to the company’s bases begins — an operation completed only on the morning of January 1.
More than a spectacle, Copacabana’s New Year’s Eve celebration is the result of planning, technical expertise, and dedication — pillars that Camorim has been upholding for decades on the world’s largest New Year’s stage.
“Many teams have been working in Copacabana for years. Families understand the magnitude of the responsibility. While millions celebrate on the beach, our professionals remain alert, ensuring everything happens with maximum safety.” , says João Guerra, Camorim’s commercial manager.
“We recognize the efforts of our employees. They are true heroes. They work with commitment, responsibility, and care so that this great celebration can take place”, Guerra adds.
About Camorim
Camorim is a 100% Brazilian company with 30 years of experience in the national maritime sector. Considered a 360° hub in the provision of comprehensive logistics and navigation solutions, the corporation employs more than 1,300 people, creating opportunities along the entire Brazilian coast. Among the services offered by the company are port towing, port logistics, and offshore support.
With more than 150 vessels, Camorim operates the most diversified fleet in Brazil, comprising tugboats, LHs, PSVs, AHTSs, OSRVs, cargo barges, water barges, sheerleg cranes, and speedboats (both cargo and passenger).
C Maceio (Source: Camorim)
Camorim owns a modern shipyard located on Ilha da Conceição in Niterói, where it operates a Private Use Terminal. In addition, the company has three strategically located operational bases (two in Niterói and one in Vitória, in the state of Espírito Santo), expanding support for maritime operations.
The company also operates in ports located in the states of Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Espírito Santo, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Pará, and Maranhão.
Built in February 1963 by Fujinagata Shipyard in Japan, the vessel originally named Petrobras Oeste was designed with a clear mission: transport LPG along Brazilian waters. Powered by a B&W engine, with approximately 4,323 DWT and IMO 5407784, it was part of Petrobras’ fleet at a time when Brazil was beginning to build its own energy infrastructure.
But the sea has a long memory. And ships often carry stories that do not end where many expect.
In the mid-1980s, Petrobras Oeste and its sister vessel Petrobras Nordeste (IMO 5412997) were decommissioned and sold at auction as scrap. Petrobras Oeste was acquired by Brasilmar, while Petrobras Nordeste went to Metalnave.
At first, the cycle seemed complete. The vessels had fulfilled their mission and would likely end their lives as scrap metal.
That was not what happened.
Metalnave S.A., a company that at the time operated tugboats and bunker barges in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, controlled by entrepreneur Frank Wlasek, acquired Petrobras Nordeste.
The auction contract required the vessels to be scrapped, prohibiting conversion or repair for use as merchant ships. After a lengthy legal dispute, Metalnave proved its right to convert and repair the vessel as its new owner. The company rebuilt and adapted Petrobras Nordeste to transport butadiene, renaming it Metaltanque I.
Brasilmar, after acquiring Petrobras Oeste, made no changes to the vessel. Metalnave later purchased it and took an even more ambitious step: converting it into a semi-refrigerated vessel.
The refit was carried out by Metalnave’s technical team, led by its technical director, engineer José Ruiz, a professional with a long career in the Brazilian shipbuilding sector. The challenge was significant: transform an old pressurized gas system from a vessel purchased as scrap into a modern semi-refrigerated plant capable of transporting gaseous chemical products. At the time, much of the domestic market considered the project virtually impossible.
Yet it was done.
The result was Metaltanque II. Before its final conversion and renaming, the vessel operated for a few years under the name Triunfogas. After the transformation, it entered service transporting chemical cargoes in Brazilian cabotage, serving demanding clients such as Braskem and Dow Química. With the incorporation of the two vessels, Metalnave S.A. also became a cabotage shipping company.
More than a commercial twist, the episode demonstrated that Brazilian naval engineering was capable of revitalizing complex assets and returning them to the market in full operational condition — challenging the skepticism that long limited the sector’s ambitions.
Today, Metaltanque II is inactive at Renave, in Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, at Ilha do Vianna. Those who visit the site find a vessel at rest, but not destroyed. It is not in a deplorable state. It stands like a ship that has simply paused after a long journey — somewhat worn, yet still present.
Seatrium confirmed successful first gas injection on FPSO P-78, achieved 61 days after first oil on December 31, 2025.
Unit is installed at Búzios Field in Santos Basin, approximately 180–230 km offshore Rio de Janeiro, and operates for Petrobras.
Key unit specifications:
• Oil production capacity: 180,000 b/d • Gas processing: 7.2 million m³/d • Storage capacity: 2 million barrels • First oil: December 31, 2025 • First gas injection: March 2026
Construction involved module fabrication, integration and commissioning across shipyards in Asia and Brazil, executed in partnership with Petrobras.
FPSO P-78 forms part of new generation of units being delivered by Seatrium for Petrobras. Combined developments are expected to add around 1.3 million b/d to Brazil’s offshore production capacity over coming years.
