By Ejekwu Chidiebere
Energy Window International (Media) – Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda. (Shell Brasil), a subsidiary of Shell plc, says it has secured additional equity in Brazil’s pre-salt oil projects following an auction led by Pré-Sal Petróleo. Together with Petrobras, Shell Brasil says the new deal has helped it deepen its stake in Atapu and Mero units, having acquired in the process 26.76% of Atapu Open Acreage (0.95% of the unit) and 20% of Mero Open Acreage (3.5% of the unit). Shell also said the acquisition provided Shell Brasil the opportunity of increasing its participating interest in the units from 16.663% to 16.917% in Atapu and from 19.3% to 20% in Mero. Both projects are located in the offshore Santos Basin.
This investment Shell told Energy Window International (Media) in an email has further strengthened its position in areas where it has existing assets while supporting it as it aims to sustain its material liquids production of 1.4 million barrels per day through 2030.
“Today’s winning bid reinforces our disciplined approach to grow Shell’s high margin portfolio in Brazil,” says Peter Costello, Shell’s Upstream President. “Our assets in Brazil are among the most competitive in our global portfolio, combining strong performance with a low carbon footprint.”
The increased working interest is expected to take effect from 2027, according to Shell.
The successful bid offer of US$50.5 mIn for Atapu and US$293.4 mIn for Mero according to statement by the Dutch energy firm would be followed by a bid payment in December 2025 and execution of the relevant contracts in March 2026 (Payment will be in Brazilian Reals (BRL) with figures above based on an exchange rate of 5.311 BRL:US$), Shell said.
Mero according to Shell is a pre-salt oil project in the Santos Basin. It disclosed that the FPSO Guanabara (Mero-1), the FPSO Sepetiba (Mero-2), the FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias (Mero-3), and FPSO Alexandre de Gusmão (Mero 4) – all came online in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025, respectively. “In total, the four FPSOs and an Early Production System (EPS) have a combined gross installed production capacity of 770,000 barrels of oil per day”, Shell said.
The Company recalls that prior to the bid round, the equity interest in the Mero unit were as follows: (i) Mero PSC 96.5% (Shell Brasil Petróleo (“SBPL”) 20%, Petrobras* (“PBR”) 40%, TotalEnergies (“TTE”) 20%, CNPC 10%, CNOOC 10%); (ii) Open Acreage 3.5%** (Pré-Sal Petróleo S.A (“PPSA”) 100%).
Atapu Shell says, is a pre-salt oil project located in the Santos Basin which started production in 2020 through the P-70 Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading unit (FPSO) which also has the capacity to produce 150,000 barrels of oil per day. “To support future growth, a second FPSO (P-84), with a production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil per day, is currently under construction”, Shell disclosed.
Recall also that prior to the bid round, the equity interest in the Atapu unit were also as follows: (i) BMS-11-A 17.032% (SBPL 25%, PBR* 42.5%, TTE 22.5%, Petrogal (“Galp”) 10%); (ii) Transfer of Rights 32.397% (PBR 100%); (iii) Atapu PSC 49.621% (SBPL 25%, PBR 52.5%, TTE 22.5%); (iv) Open Agreage 0.950%** (PPSA 100%).
Shell says it is the second largest oil and gas producer in Brazil, behind Petrobras