HRT Acquires Bijupira & Salema Oil Fields

PetroRio, the new brand of HRT Participacoes em Petroleo S.A. hereby announces the signing of a purchase and sale agreement to acquire 80% of the rights and obligations of the concession contracts for the Bijupira and Salema Fields with Shell Brasil Petroleo Ltda. (“Shell”), Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, holds the remaining 20%. The transaction also involved the acquisition of, among other assets, the ship FPSO Fluminense, used in the production process of both fields, with storage capacity for 1.3 million barrels of oil. Only upon approval from the regulatory agencies, the Company will become the operator of the fields.

With this transaction, PetroRio will become one of the largest independent producers in the country, operating an average of more than 30,000 barrels of oil per day. This represents a three-fold increase in current production and positions PetroRio as one of the most important emerging companies in Brazil’s oil industry.

The Bijupira and Salema Fields, located in water depths of 480 and 850 meters, are located in the Pre-Salt polygon, just 80km northeast of the Polvo Field, PetroRio’s first production asset, generating important synergy gains between the operations. The licenses cover an area of 40,000,000 m2 and daily production totals 22,000 barrels of light oil and 325,000 m3 of associated gas, equivalent to 24,000 boe/day. The oil extracted from the fields is light from 28° to 31° API.

PetroRio is born of a new corporate culture focused on increasing production through the acquisition of production assets, the re-exploration and optimization of the Polvo, Bijupira and Salema Fields, increasing operational efficiency and reducing production costs and corporate expenses, as well as eliminating exploration risk. The Company’s main objective is to create value for its shareholders, protecting its liquidity and increasing revenue and profits, with full respect for safety and the environment.

The acquisition of the Bijupira and Salema fields will be executed with a portion of the funds raised through the 1st Convertible Debenture Issuance and with a structured financing operation led by Glencore Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore PLC.

The completion of the purchase and sale transaction between PetroRio and Shell is subject to certain precedent conditions, including approval of the assignment of rights by Brazil’s Council for Economic Defense (CADE) and the National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP).

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