Petrobras wants to dispose of business in Uruguay and 8 refineries in Brazil.

Petrobras wants to dispose of its gas distribution business and fuel station network in Uruguay, in addition to the sale of eight refining assets in Brazil that could earn up to 20 billion dollars.

On Friday night, Petrobras reported that its Board of Directors approved new guidelines for managing the company's asset portfolio, considering the sale of eight refineries. The adjustment to the management plan also includes the sale of the Petrobras service station network in Uruguay, as well as an additional stake in BR Distribuidora. The decision is part of the program for the sale of assets considered non-strategic, which is underway by Petrobras. In addition to reducing debt, Petrobras is also seeking with its divestment plan to focus on what it considers to be its main business: the exploration and production of oil and gas.

Leader in Brazil in fuel distribution, with BR Distribuidora, Petrobras will put up for sale the network with 70 service stations in Uruguay, and will negotiate with the Uruguayan government to return the gas distribution concession. According to the president of Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco “The scale we have in Uruguay does not interest us”. The state-owned company buys natural gas from Argentina at market price and from Uruguay at a fixed price. The oil company operates the distributors MontevideoGas and Conecta. “These businesses are losing money.” said Castello Branco.

The state company communicated that it also intends to sell eight refineries in Brazil, located in Pernambuco, Paraná (two units), Bahia, Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, Amazonas and Ceará. There are 13 units in total, including Abreu e Lima (RNEST), Landulpho Alves (RLAM-BA), Shale Industrialization Unit (SIX-PR), Gabriel Passos (REGAP-MG), Presidente Getúlio Vargas (REPAR-PR ), Alberto Pasqualini (REFAP-RS), Isaac Sabbá (REMAN -AM) and Lubricants and Petroleum Derivatives from the Northeast (LUBNOR-CE) .

Petrobras would keep under its control assets in the Southeast, its main consumer pole, they are the refineries of Duque de Caxias, in Rio de Janeiro, and Presidente Bernardes, Henrique Lague, Capuava and Paulínia, the four located in São Paulo.

Petrobras expects to obtain up to US$20 billion from the sale of refining assets in a process that should take a year and a half to complete. In addition to the company reducing its high debt, with the sale of the refineries carried out, Petrobras will no longer have a refining monopoly in Brazil. “It is an anomaly for a single company to have 98% of the production capacity of certain products, whatever the circumstances,” said Castello Branco.

Not only the Chinese are potential buyers, but also distributors specializing in refining and trading are among those potentially interested in the business. Castello Branco stated that Petrobras' concern will be not to sell the refineries to a single buyer to avoid regional monopolies and stimulate competition in the internal refining market and, consequently, in the formation of the final price for oil derivatives.

This week, the oil company announced the sale of US$ 10,3 billion in assets out of a total plan of US$ 27 billion. On Thursday, it announced to the market the sale of the TAG gas pipeline to the French company Engie, for US$ 8,6 billion, of the Tartaruga Verde field platform (bought by Petronas, from Malaysia, for US$ 1,3 billion) and of the Riacho da Forquilha complex, sold by PetroRecôncavo, from Bahia, for US$ 384 million.

Liquigás (gas cylinder), Petrobras' stake in Braskem, in addition to the reduction of the stake in BR Distribuidora, are on the list of the state-owned company for divestments.

Odebrecht's objective in negotiating the sale of its stake in Braskem to LyondellBasell is to receive part in cash and part in shares of the European chemical giant – and become the company's second largest shareholder. Petrobras, which owns the other half of Braskem, just wants the money and get out.

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