Petrobras Invites Interest in Colombian Block

Brazil's Petrobras said on July 27 it had published a prospectus for the sale of its entire 44.4% interest in the Tayrona exploration block in the Guajira basin of northern Colombia.

Petrobras works at Tayrona with state-owned Colombian partner Ecopetrol, which has a 55.6% interest in the block. The pair have outstanding exploration commitments at the site, which Petrobras says has "the potential to prove significant volumes of gas." 

Petrobras is divesting fields, pipelines and other assets to reduce its debts and free up capital to invest in new deepwater oil projects. It said separately on July 27 it had cleared $3.5bn in debt relating to its revolving credit lines, and had used $8bn from its credit lines to weather the coronavirus crisis.