By Camillus Eboh and Luciana Magalhaes
ABUJA/SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras, which left Nigeria five years ago, should be able to return quickly, Nigerian President Bola Tinubu told a press conference with his Brazilian counterpart during a two-day visit.
Petrobras began operations in Nigeria in 1998 in the deep waters off the Niger Delta. It sold its stakes more than 10 years ago to raise cash for domestic projects. Since then, Nigeria has been working to address some of the problems that have limited oil and gas output.
“We have the largest gas repository. I don’t see why Petrobras shouldn’t return as a partner in Nigeria as soon as possible,” Tinubu told a joint press conference with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasília on Tuesday.
“I appreciate President Lula’s promise that this will be done quickly,” Tinubu said.
In a separate interview in Sao Paulo, Jumoke Oduwole, the Nigerian Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, told Reuters that her country hopes to reach an agreement with Petrobras as soon as this year.
“The two presidents are talking – whatever it’s going to take to make sure that Petrobras is encouraged to come back. We want that investment back in Nigeria,” she said
Petrobras declined to comment on its potential return to Nigeria.
Oduwole said Nigeria is focused on attracting a specific profile of international investment to its oil and gas sector.
“We’re looking at our new friends and making sure that countries like Brazil, India, China – the Global South – we’re looking for particular types of investors.”
Apart from improvements in the oil and gas sector, Tinubu said economic reforms in Nigeria were beginning to yield results, citing improved access to foreign exchange.
During the visit to Brazil, the two leaders signed agreements on trade, energy, aviation, science and finance as part of efforts to strengthen ties between Africa’s largest economy and Latin America’s biggest market.
They included an agreement with Brazilian aircraft manufacturer Embraer to establish a service centre in Nigeria, and the leaders announced the launch of a direct flight route between Lagos and São Paulo, to be operated by Nigerian carrier Air Peace.
Asked about the discussions, Embraer said it is interested in increasing its presence in Nigeria.
Nigeria is Brazil’s 49th largest export destination, with bilateral trade reaching nearly $2.1 billion in 2024. Brazil exported $1 billion worth of goods to Nigeria, primarily sugar and jams, while importing $1.1 billion, mostly fertilisers.
It is unclear how much of a boost Petrobras might provide.
In May, Nigeria’s foreign minister said the country was in discussion with the company on the exploration of its deep water oil acreage.
Petrobras has also said it was in talks with companies including existing partners ExxonMobil, Shell, and TotalEnergies, to buy a share of their African assets.
(Reporting by Camillus Eboh in Abuja and Luciana Magalhaes in Sao Paulo; Writing by Chijioke Ohuocha; editing by Barbara Lewis and Alistair Bell)
