Brazilian state-owned Petróleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, has completed the sale of its 50% stake in Petrobras Oil & Gas BV to an Africa Oil Corp. unit for $1.53 billion, resulting in Petrobras fully ceasing operations in Africa.

Petrobras subsidiary Petrobras International Braspetro BV previously held the stake sold to Africa Oil's Petrovida Holding BV. The $1.53 billion was adjusted to a total of $1.45 billion, which reflects interest on the acquisition price and the deduction of Petrobras' share of fees paid to the Nigerian government for the deal's approval.

Of the $1.45 billion, Petrobras received $1.03 billion in the form of dividends from Petrobras Oil & Gas, as of the transaction's base date of Jan. 1, 2018. Petrobras received $276 million at deal closing and stands to receive another $123 million following the redetermination process of the Agbami deepwater oil field. Deferred payment of $24.8 million is due by the end of June.

Petrobras Oil & Gas is a joint venture in the Netherlands with assets in Nigeria. The remaining 50% of the joint venture is held by BTG Pactual E&P BV. The venture has an 8% stake in oil mining lease, or OML, 127, where the Agbami field is located, which is operated by affiliates of Chevron Corp. It also holds an indirect 16% stake in OML 130, which includes the Akpo and Egina producing fields, operated by affiliates of TOTAL SA.

Aggregate gross production from the assets averaged about 442,000 barrels of oil per day from Jan. 1, 2019, to Dec. 29, 2019.

The transaction is part of Petrobras plan to reduce debt by selling assets. The divestment program has brought in $15.3 billion as of Oct. 15, 2019, and the Brazilian oil major plans to extend the program to 2024.

Africa Oil is a Canadian oil and gas company with deepwater producing and development assets offshore Nigeria, development assets in Kenya and an exploration/appraisal portfolio in Africa and Guyana.