Cade Approves $4.6 Billion Subsea7-Saipem Merger With Vessel Sale Condition

Cade, Brazil's competition tribunal, approved the $4.6 billion global merger of Subsea7 and Saipem on the condition that one vessel be sold before the deal is implemented, Folha reported on November 4, 2026. Petrobras had contested the transaction.

Cade's Vessel Sale Remedy

The tribunal found high global concentration in subsea infrastructure services, with few companies providing them, and set the sale of one vessel as the remedy. The deal can only proceed after that asset is divested, and Cade's technical area will monitor the coming negotiations. The combined company would control a strategic fleet of ships that install rigid pipelines, cables and other equipment on the seabed at depths beyond 2,000 metres.

Camila Alves, the case rapporteur, said in her vote that the market concentration resulting from the operation needed to be mitigated. Data she gathered showed the companies take part in up to 60% of tenders conducted by Petrobras. Her vote was followed by the other three councillors currently on the tribunal.

Petrobras told Cade that the fleet available for infrastructure services is limited and that few competitors exist relative to Saipem and Subsea7. The state-controlled company said concentrating those assets could reduce competition just as pre-salt investment expands, raising costs. Cade's analysis found that even Petrobras, which dominates the Brazilian market, could face higher costs when negotiating with the resulting company. The existence of other global suppliers would not by itself dispel the concerns, since competition depends on specific assets and the ability to mobilise them within project execution windows.

Cade's Superintendência-Geral had approved the case without restrictions, arguing there was no evidence that the availability of these infrastructure vessels is insufficient for global demand. ABEP, the Brazilian association of oil and gas exploration and production companies, asked Cade to reject the operation, and ExxonMobil and TechnipFMC also questioned the deal. The process is also being reviewed in other countries, including the United States and the European Union, because its effects are global.

Petrobras's Scale in Deepwater

According to akta.pro company records, Petrobras is a vertically integrated Brazilian state-controlled oil and gas major with Q1 2026 production of 3.23 million BOE/d, a 16.1% year-on-year increase driven by FPSO ramp-ups at Búzios and Mero. Pre-salt output reached 2.66 million boed in the quarter, more than 80% of total production. The Búzios field reached a record average of 1.1 million barrels of oil per day, about one-third of all Petrobras-operated production in Brazil.

Earlier Petrobras Moves

On November 3, 2026, InfoMoney reported that Petrobras said the P-78 platform in the Búzios field reached 180,000 barrels per day, its nominal capacity. The field, 180 km from Rio de Janeiro, is the company's largest producer and will eventually host 12 FPSOs, with two more expected in 2027. On November 2, 2026, Splash247 reported that Oceanity signed a four-year charter with Petrobras for its fast oil spill response vessel CMM Purity.

Reviews Outside Brazil

The merger is also under review in the United States and the European Union, where its effects are global, according to Folha.