Petrobras and Total SA, the world’s fourth-largest oil and gas company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which sets the general framework for a strategic alliance covering upstream and downstream activities in Brazil, as well as potential international opportunities.

Petrobras is an integrated energy company focused on oil and gas, acknowledged as a leader in deep and ultra-deep water exploration and production, operating mainly in Brazil.

Through this agreement, the companies undertake to join forces in some key areas of mutual interest and to evaluate opportunities in Brazil and abroad to jointly benefit from their expertise in all segments of the oil and gas value chain.

In the first phase of their strategic alliance, the companies intend to focus on upstream and on gas and power.

In the upstream sector, Petrobras will propose Total to partner in projects in Brazil and Total will propose Petrobras to partner in opportunities outside Brazil. This new partnership will allow both companies to combine their world-class experience and expertise in deep-water development to optimise the production and jointly develop this strategic area of activity in Brazil and in other high-potential oil and gas provinces, as well as sharing costs and risks in projects requiring huge investments and complexity.

In the downstream sector, the companies will be working to develop joint activities in gas and power generation in Brazil. The memorandum also states that the cooperation will be extended, in a second phase, to a broader cooperation in Brazil focused on all downstream segments.

Currently, Petrobras and Total are jointly participating in 15 consortia worldwide in exploration and production, nine of which are in Brazil and six are abroad. In Brazil, the companies are partners in the development of the giant Libra area, which is the first production-sharing contract in the Brazilian pre-salt in the Santos basin. Outside Brazil, Petrobras and Total are partners in the Chinook field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, in the deepwater Akpo field in Nigeria and the gas fields of San Alberto and San Antonio/Itau in Bolivia, as well as in the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline.