Brazil's state-run oil company, Petrobras, said on Friday it had submitted an expression of interest for exploration blocks in Ghana and begun negotiations.
The West African nation's Ministry of Energy and Green Transition had approved its application to negotiate exploration contracts for four offshore blocks in the Keta Basin, Petrobras said.
Sylvia Anjos, Petrobras' head of exploration and production, told Reuters that the Ghana blocks are geologically similar to Brazil's Equatorial Margin, which is considered the country's most promising oil frontier.
The oil major plans to make Africa its main exploratory region outside of Brazil, Petrobras Chief Executive Magda Chambriard told Reuters last year.
Beyond Ghana, Petrobras has been looking in to several African countries for opportunities, including Sao Tome and Principe, Namibia, Ivory Coast and South Africa.
The move is aligned with Petrobras' strategy of replenishing oil and gas reserves through exploration in new frontier areas in Brazil and abroad, the company said in a securities filing.
It added that it is evaluating opportunities to diversify its exploration portfolio and support long-term growth.
(Reporting by Isabel Teles in Sao Paulo and Rodrigo Viga Gaier in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Joe Bavier and Matthew Lewis)
