May 14, 2025

Nigeria is discussing exploration of its deep water oil acreage with Petrobras, years after the Brazilian oil giant exited the west African nation, Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar said.

“Petrobras is no longer active in Nigeria, but they are very keen on coming back to Nigeria. They said they want frontier acreage in deep waters,” Tuggar was quoted in a statement from the vice president’s office as saying.

Brazil is due to host the BRIC summit, G20 and COP30 this year. Nigeria plans to promote investment at these summits as the African nation seeks to deepen ties with Brazil in areas such as energy, health, culture, and agriculture.

The Brazilian state energy firm said in February it was in talks with companies including existing partners ExxonMobil  Shell and TotalEnergies to buy a share of their African assets.

Petrobras began operations in Nigeria in 1998 in the deep waters off the coast of the Niger Delta. But it sold off its stakes more than 10 years ago to raise cash for domestic projects.

REUTERS