Petrobras Opens Talks on Four Offshore Blocks in Ghana's Keta Basin

Petrobras said on August 21, 2026 that it wants to explore for oil in Ghana, a country of about 35 million people on the west coast of Africa. The manifestation of interest covers four exploration blocks in offshore areas of the Keta Basin, and Ghana's Ministry of Energy and Green Transition has approved the company's qualification to negotiate contracts on those four blocks.

With the approval in hand, the state-controlled producer enters direct negotiation of the exploration contract terms. The blocks are exploratory, the stage before production.

The move is driven by reserve arithmetic. Petrobras has said the pre-salt, in the sea off southeastern Brazil, should enter decline around 2034 if reserves are not expanded. That province supplies more than 83% of the company's own oil and gas output, net of the share held by consortium partners. Entering new exploration frontiers, in Brazil and abroad, is a central component of the Business Plan, and the Ghanaian initiative is aligned with the reserve-replacement strategy set out in that plan.

Africa is where the search has concentrated. Petrobras currently operates in Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe and South Africa. In Sao Tome and Principe it holds stakes in four exploration blocks, three of them operated by Anglo-Dutch Shell. In South Africa it holds a stake in the Deep Western Orange Basin block, operated by France's TotalEnergies. In Namibia the company signed a contract to acquire a stake in Block 2613 and is awaiting confirmation of entry from government authorities.

Outside Africa, Petrobras is present in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia and the United States. In June 2026 it reached an understanding to establish strategic and technical cooperation with state-owned Pemex, focused on the Gulf of Mexico.

The domestic frontier is advancing in parallel. Petrobras detailed the first oil findings at the Morpho well, in block BM-FZA-59, 175 km from Oiapoque in Amapa and about 500 km from the mouth of the Amazon river.

Energia Limpa reported the Keta Basin talks on August 21, 2026, in an article by Paulo Pires, describing the basin as a potential production hub on the West African coast. The company began negotiations for oil and gas exploration in offshore areas of the Keta Basin, off the coast of Ghana, after the ministry gave initial approval to its request.

The pattern across the portfolio is a state major taking non-operated exploration positions alongside international operators rather than leading frontier wells alone, as the Shell-operated blocks in Sao Tome and Principe and the TotalEnergies-operated Deep Western Orange Basin stake show. Ghana would extend that approach along the same Atlantic margin, with contract terms still to be settled.

Elsewhere in the company's gas business, Petrobras renewed natural gas contracts with partners in Bahia, according to a report published on August 20, 2026.