Brazilian oil company Petrobras has started the binding phase for the sale of its share in the Papa-Terra field located in the deepwater area in the Campos Basin, offshore Brazil.

The binding phase starts following a teaser for the sale Petrobras had announced back in February. The company has said that the sale is in line with its portfolio optimization and improvement of capital allocation.

"Qualified parties for this phase will receive a process letter with instructions on the divestment process, including guidelines for due diligence and submission of binding proposals," Petrobras said Friday.

The Papa-terra field is part of the BC-20 concession and is located at a water depth of 1,200 meters. The field started its operation in 2013 and its average oil and gas production in 2019 was 17,300 boe/day, through two platforms, P-61 type TLWP (Tension Leg Wellhead Platform) and P-63 type FPSO where the entire production is processed.

Petrobras is the operator of the field, with 62.5% stake, in partnership with Chevron, which holds the remaining 37.5 percent