Petrobras sells stakes in offshore oilfields to France's Total

Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras is selling stakes in two big offshore oilfields and two power plants to France's Total in a deal worth $2.2 billion, both companies announced.

The agreement comes under a previously announced Petrobras asset sale aimed at raising billions of dollars for the indebted group.

The transaction will see Total get pumping rights to significant parts of two deepwater, pre-salt oilfields off Brazil's southeastern coast whose discovery in 2007 was seen as a resource bonanza.

Total will pick up 22.5 percent of the Iara field and 35 percent of the Lapa field, which started operation on Tuesday.

The French company will also become 50-percent owner of two thermal energy plants, Romulo de Almeida and Celso Furtado, in the northeastern state of Bahia.

The transaction comes at a time of relatively low prices for oil -- and amid a huge corruption scandal involving Petrobras that saw the company's rating downgraded and its debt pile of over $120 billion become worrisome.

Total's CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, said in Paris that "these deals will considerably reinforce Total's presence in Brazil by giving us access to the remarkable pre-salt resources and allowing us to integrate into the promising integrated gas chain in the country."

He later told AFP that Brazil is a "land of opportunity" for Total.

"I often say that you should look for oil and gas where (we know) they are. There is a lot in Brazil, and the moment in time helps us, because in fact they are a country experiencing difficulties," he said.

"They are looking for partners. They decided to open up to foreign investment (in oil), and that gives us the chance to talk with Petrobras and see what common ground we can find."

Petrobras chief Pedro Parente said in Rio de Janeiro the deals should offer some strategic advantages and savings.

"And they should help us to reduce our debts," he stressed.