Shell Brasil Petróleo Ltda. (Shell Brasil), a subsidiary of Shell, has secured additional equity in Brazil’s pre-salt oil projects following an auction led by Pré-Sal Petróleo. Together with Petrobras, Shell Brasil deepened its stake in Atapu and Mero units, acquiring 26.76% of Atapu Open Acreage (0.95% of the unit) and 20% of Mero Open Acreage (3.5% of the unit). With this acquisition, Shell Brasil increased 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 strengthens Shell’s position in areas where we have existing assets and supports the company’s aim to sustain 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,' said 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.
Background
- The successful bid offer of US$50.5 mIn?for Atapu and US$293.4 mIn for Mero will be followed by a bid payment in December 2025 and execution of the relevant contracts in March 2026 (Payment will be in Brazilian Reals (BRL) with figures above based on an exchange rate of 5.311 BRL:US$).
- Mero is a pre-salt oil project in the Santos Basin. 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) 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.
- Prior to the bid round, the equity interest in the Mero unit is 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 is a pre-salt oil project located in the Santos Basin. Production started in 2020 through the P-70 Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading unit (FPSO), which 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.
- Prior to the bid round, the equity interest in the Atapu unit is 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 is the second largest oil and gas producer in Brazil, behind Petrobras.
Source: Shell
