India’s BPCL plans $3 billion bond sale to fund Brazil oil bet

Bharat Petroleum Corp. is preparing an international bond sale to raise as much as $3 billion, largely to fund a major oil project in Brazil and refinance debt maturing next year, according to people familiar with the matter.


The largest share of the proceeds will help fund BPCL’s $2.8 billion contribution to the SEAP-I offshore development in Brazil, the people said, asking not to be named because the discussions are private. India’s second-biggest state-owned refiner plans to raise the money in several tranches and held investor roadshows in London, Dubai and Singapore last month to gauge demand, they said.


A BPCL spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Brazil investment underscores India’s accelerating push for overseas energy supplies as wars in the Middle East and between Russia and Ukraine disrupt traditional sources. State-run companies including BPCL and Oil and Natural Gas Corp. are preparing to boost investments abroad as the country, which imports almost 90% of its crude and about half its natural gas, seeks to diversify supply.

India’s crude imports from Brazil have more than doubled from 2025 levels so far this year, making it the country’s fifth-biggest supplier, according to data from Kpler.

The move also reflects a broader trend as global energy companies return to oil and gas investment and seek projects in new regions. South America is emerging as a key destination, with Exxon Mobil Corp. and TotalEnergies SE planning to invest in the resource-rich region, considered a lot less geopolitically turbulent than the Middle East.

Brazil’s state-controlled Petroleo Brasileiro SA, or Petrobras, operates and holds the largest stake in the BM-SEAL-11 area, which includes SEAP-I. BPCL unit Bharat PetroResources Ltd. owns 40%.

SEAP-I will have the capacity to produce 120,000 barrels of oil a day and process 10 million cubic meters of natural gas daily when fully operational. Oil production is targeted for 2030, with gas exports expected a year later, according to Petrobras.

The company approved the project’s final investment decision earlier this year after delays in securing a floating production, storage and offloading vessel. The discoveries in the area were declared commercially viable in 2021 and the company submitted a development plan to Brazil’s oil regulator the following year.