Latest News

Petrobras concluding due diligence to redeem refinery from Mubadala, sources say

Brazil's staterun oil business Petrobras is wrapping up due diligence for a quote on the Mataripe refinery it sold to Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala for $1.65 billion in 2021, three people knowledgeable about the matter informed .

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva campaigned against the sale of Petrobras refineries and has promoted the company to speed up job-creating financial investments in the segment. Nevertheless, an agreement on the structure and rate of a possible buyback has not been reached, stated people associated with the talks.

Those discussions might postpone the deal, which has been in the works for several months, considered that the refinery, likewise called RLAM, was sold listed below market value by some accounts.

Brazil's Comptroller General discovered that Petrobras may have offered the refinery at a discount rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. The union-backed Institute for Strategic Researches in Oil, Natural Gas and Biofuels (Ineep) estimated in 2021 that the refinery was worth between $3 billion to $4 billion.

Petrobras did not instantly react to a request for remark. Mubadala agents declined to comment.

Conversation of a possible buyback emerged in 2015 when Mubadala proposed a joint investment in traditional refining and a brand-new biorefinery sharing facilities with the Mataripe refinery in Bahia state, a stronghold of Lula's Workers Party.

If you ask me if Brazil need to have sold refineries, I. would peremptorily respond: No, Brazil's Mines and Energy. Minister Alexandre Silveira informed today.

He stated in an interview that he is also speaking to. agents of the Mataripe refinery however said Petrobras will. only enter into an arrangement if the buyback is financially. feasible.

According to an individual familiar with talks, Petrobras was. first preparing to buy an 80% stake in Mataripe and make a. minority investment in a biofuel plant with Mubadala. The exact same. person stated it is uncertain if a deal will proceed with that. structure after Lula changed the CEO of Petrobras in May.

Petrobras has actually likewise talked about offering Mubadala the exact same. price it spent for the refinery in 2021, plus interest and. repayment of the sovereign fund's investments to update the. plant, according to two people near to the talks.

Petrobras owns 11 refineries producing about 80% of domestic. fuel production after selling two plants under former President. Jair Bolsonaro, when the oil business shed downstream properties to. focus on deepwater exploration.

Built in the 1950s, RLAM is Brazil's second largest. refinery, with the highest capability for production of gas,. diesel and other oil derivatives in north and northeast Brazil,. according to operator Acelen, which is managed by Mubadala.

Silveira said Mubadala is seeking to offer RLAM because it. made the acquisition under the assumption that Petrobras would. offer several more refineries. Instead, Mubadala's share of the. improving market is still overshadowed by Petrobras, on which it. depends for crude oil.

This buyback will need to go through, it no longer makes. sense for a private financier like Mubadala to own a refinery in. Brazil, said Adriano Pires, an oil industry expert as soon as. drifted as a potential Petrobras CEO under the last government.

(source: Reuters)