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São Tomé and Príncipe · Economy · · 5 minute readGalp and Petrobras have each taken 27.5 percent of an offshore exploration block operated by Shell. Three major energy companies are now committing money to the same patch of São Tomé’s waters.
On September 12, 2025, the Portuguese energy company Galp and Brazil's state controlled oil company Petrobras each announced that they had joined Shell in Block 4, an exploration area in the waters of São Tomé and Príncipe. Galp agreed what the industry calls a farm in, buying a 27.5 percent stake from a Shell affiliate, and Petrobras said it had completed the purchase of an identical 27.5 percent share.
For a country of about 230,000 people whose exports are dominated by cocoa, it is a meaningful vote of confidence. Three of the better known names in global energy now share the risk and the cost of exploring one block in São Tomé's waters.
After the two transactions, the Block 4 partnership looks like this:
Galp described Block 4 as an early stage exploration block entered with a limited financial commitment. That is an honest description. No oil has been found in the block, and exploration of this kind takes years before anyone knows whether a commercial field exists.
Block 4 is the latest step in a steady build up. Galp has explored the deep waters of São Tomé since 2015 and now holds positions in four blocks: it operates Block 6 with Shell and the ANP, operates Block 12, and holds a minority stake in Block 11, which Shell operates. In 2022 Galp drilled the Jaca well, the country's first offshore exploration well. It did not find a commercial accumulation, but Galp says it confirmed an active petroleum system, meaning the rocks contain the ingredients needed to generate oil. That kind of data is what encourages companies to keep looking.
Petrobras arrived in February 2024, taking 45 percent of Blocks 10 and 13 and 25 percent of Block 11. Block 4 is its fourth block in the country. The company said the purchase strengthens its exploration in Africa and supports its long term strategy of replacing reserves by exploring new frontiers with partners.
São Tomé and Príncipe is small and has limited sources of foreign income. UNCTAD, the UN's trade and development body, noted when the country left the UN list of least developed countries in December 2024 that cocoa and other primary goods made up 69 percent of its merchandise exports, and that growth had been below 2 percent a year from 2021 to 2023.
The International Monetary Fund approved a new 40 month program under its Extended Credit Facility, its main lending arrangement for low income countries, in December 2024, worth about US$24 million. The program is built around keeping the dobra's peg to the euro, rebuilding foreign reserves and reducing the country's heavy reliance on imported fuel. The IMF projected growth recovering from 0.9 percent in 2024 to 3.1 percent in 2025.
Exploration spending does not change those numbers overnight. What it does is signal that large, careful investors see enough potential to commit capital over many years. A commercial discovery, if one comes, could transform public finances, but that remains a possibility rather than a forecast.
São Tomé and Príncipe opened its citizenship by investment program on August 1, 2025, with a contribution of US$90,000 for a single applicant or US$95,000 for a family of two to four. One of the fair questions about any new program is the strength of the economy behind it. Today's news is a positive data point: sophisticated international companies are investing in the country's future, alongside the IMF program and donor support.
It should be kept in proportion. Oil exploration is uncertain by nature, and a passport's practical value depends mainly on travel access, banking acceptance and the stability of the issuing government. Even so, a country attracting long term capital from Shell, Galp and Petrobras is in a better position than one that is not. We help clients assess whether São Tomé fits their plans, work with our local team, and quote fixed fees in writing.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice.
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