Brazil’s state-owned oil major, Petrobras PBR, secured fresh bids for several onshore-producing fields in the Reconcavo and Tucano basins after a previous deal with a local player failed.

Last year, in October, it was reported that a few firms led by the Brazilian company, Aguila Energia, gave an offer of nearly $1.5 billion to Petrobras for the acquisition of its Bahia Terra cluster. However, after an unsuccessful finish to the deliberation process with Aguila, Petrobras established that it opened its doors for new offers.

Per the company, a syndicate made of Brazilian independent groups, PetroReconcavo and Eneva, presented a new offer for the Bahia Terra cluster. Petrobras also mentioned that a few other companies made bids and it will evaluate all the proposals before proceeding with formal negotiations.

Per a local report, the Brazilian firm, 3R Petroleum, was among bidders, though it denied that it informed Petrobras that it had no intentions to be part of the divestment process.
The Bahia Terra cluster comprises 28 fields, along with the infrastructure containing 19 collecting stations, 12 collecting points, two oil treatment stations, six collecting and compression stations and four water injection systems. In February, the 28 fields jointly produced about 15,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day, according to data from the Brazilian market regulator, ANP.

Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras S.A. is the largest integrated energy firm in Brazil and one of the largest in Latin America. PBR’s activities include the exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trading and transportation.

Petrobras currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). Other similar-ranked stocks from the energy space that warrant a look include ExxonMobil XOM, Oasis Petroleum OAS and Devon Energy DVN.  You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

ExxonMobil beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in all the trailing four quarters, the average being around 5.8%. ExxonMobil stock has increased around 52.3% in a year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ExxonMobil’s 2022 earnings has been revised upward by about 20.2% over the past 60 days from $6.32 to $7.60 per share. XOM is valued at around $350 billion.

Oasis Petroleum’s stock has increased by about 160.7% in a year. Oasis Petroleum beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings in three of the trailing four quarters, the average being around 37.6%.