The company has been growing substantially and appears to be interested in acquiring a 33.3% stake in Galp, a Portuguese oil firm operating off the Brazilian coast.
Second, the government might be tempted to revisit existing contracts, which would be bad for confidence and disastrous for Petrobras and its partners (Britain's BG Group has a 25% stake in Tupi and Portugal's Galp Energia 10%).
While it may seem redundant for Petrobras to invest in a company with a substantially smaller pre-salt operation in Brazil, analysts for Bloomberg explained that the deal might be a way for Petrobras to indirectly fund deep sea projects it operates via joint-ventures with Galp.