In early May 2020, Petrobras asked antitrust regulator Cade for authorization to acquire Equinorâs stake in the ES-M-596 Block in the deepwater Espirito Santo Basin. The block is operated by Petrobras currently with 50% partnering with Equinor which also has 50% on the Round 11 block. This is the fifth request by Petrobras to acquire Equinor stakes in Round 11 blocks that the company is releasing in the Espirito Santo Basin offshore. Two blocks, ES-M-671 and ES-M-743, have already been approved by Cade while all five blocks are still pending transaction approval from the ANP. Equinor will remain partnered with Petrobras and retain its interests in the ES-M-669, ES-M-527 and ES-M-594 blocks. In 2019 Petrobras revealed plans to the ANP to drill the Monai prospect on ES-M-669, with an intent to reach the Espirito Santo pre-salt which could de-risk other prospects in the basin. The first period of exploration for ES-M-669 ends in August 2020 while the first and second periods of exploration for ES-M-596 expire on 25 September 2021 and 25 September 2023 respectively.Brazilian government sources in September 2019 indicate that Petrobras new-field wildcat 1BRSA1360ESS on the ES-M-596 Block had oil shows. Previous reports had the well ending drilling operations by 14 May 2018 without oil or gas show reports and it was believed to be plugged and abandoned as a dry hole. The well had a planned total depth of 5,532m and was drilled by Odebrechtâs ODN I drillship in a water depth of 1977m. The projected objective was the Late Cretaceous Urucutuca Formation. In December 2014 a multi-client 3D seismic survey in the offshore Espirito Santo Basin called Espirito Santo Phase III completed shooting. The survey was shot by the French company CGG for a planned data acquisition of 9,605 sq km. The ES-M-596 Block was covered in the survey along with others signed in 2013 from ANP Round 11. The data was acquired by the Oceanic Champion M/V. 
Petrobras asked antitrust regulator Cade for authorization to acquire Equinorâs stake in the ES-M-596 Block in the deepwater Espirito Santo Basin. The block is operated by Petrobras currently with 50% partnering with Equinor which also has 50% on the Round 11 block.