Brazilian giant Petrobras has returned to Africa’s upstream arena after a six-year absence by acquiring stakes in exploration acreage offshore Sao Tome & Principe.

Petrobras sold the last of its African assets in 2018 when exiting the big Agbami, Akpo and Egina fields offshore Nigeria, preferring instead to focus spending on its huge domestic resources and reducing its debt.

However, in a potential sign that Petrobras may be releasing the shackles on overseas E&P investments, it has secured stakes in three deepwater blocks in Sao Tome’s waters which are operated by Shell.