Investing.com-- Norwegian oil company Equinor (NYSE:EQNR) said on Thursday it had entered a deal to sell its 60% operated interest in Brazil’s Peregrino oil field to a unit of PRIO SA, the country’s biggest independent oil and gas company.
Equinor will receive $3.35 billion for the stake, plus $150 million in interest, the company said in a statement.
“With this transaction we realise value from a long-standing asset in our Brazil portfolio. Brazil will continue to be a core country for Equinor, as we focus on starting up the Bacalhau field and continue progressing the Raia gas project,” Philippe Mathieu, Executive Vice President for Exploration and Production International at Equinor said in a statement.
Equinor has operated Peregrino since 2009 and has produced some 300 million barrels of oil from the project. Prio had last year acquired a 40% interest in the field from China’s Sinochem.
The move comes as Equinor seeks to trim some of its international assets and boost its cash holdings, especially in the face of tumbling oil prices, doubts over global energy demand, and declining renewables investment in the United States.
The company earlier this week flagged a massive hit- billions of dollars- after U.S. President Donald Trump halted the construction of a major wind power project in offshore New York.
Still, the company clocked stronger-than-expected first-quarter earnings earlier this week, as it benefited from a surge in European gas prices.