A wholly owned subsidiary of A.P. Moller Maersk, Maersk Olie og Gas A/S would acquire SK do Brasil Ltda. from SK Energy Co. Ltd. in an all-cash transaction. The acquisition is subject to government approval.
Maerk's invest comes as oil production from deepwater Brazil ramps up. Petrobras reported at the end of December that it recorded new records for monthly, annual and daily oil production averages. The monthly average for December was 2,120 thousand barrels per day, up from the previous record of 2,030 thousand barrels per day recorded in April 2010.
Under the acquisition from SK Energy, Maersk Oil would acquire shares in three blocks.
The Polvo Field offers a current net production of approx. 10,000 bbls of oil a day (SK do Brasil Ltda. share). The Wahoo and Itaipu discoveries will be appraised in 2011 and first oil may be possible by 2016 and 2018, respectively. Additional exploration prospectivity has been observed in both these blocks, some of which is planned to be tested in 2013.