Page 16 - LatAmOil Week 49

LatAmOil BRAZIL LatAmOil

Later this month, Rio de Janeiro-based Petro- the first quarter of 2021, according to Petrobras
bras also expects to receive binding offers for representatives.
the Presidente Getúlio Vargas (REPAR) plant The refinery divestment programme will
in Parana State and the Alberto Pasqualini leave the company with a total of six refineries,
(REFAP) plant in Rio Grande do Sul State, com- five of them located in the south-eastern part of
pany officials said during an investor day held the country. Brazil’s oil-processing sector has
last week. been monopolised by Petrobras for decades, but
One of the bidders for REPAR is reportedly it has started to open up as the cash-strapped
the Brazilian conglomerate Ultrapar. A consor- major divests non-core assets in order to focus
tium led by Brazil’s Raizen and China’s state-run more on its core business, the country’s oil-rich
Sinopec are also thought to be bidding in the presalt areas.
next round of refinery sales. At the beginning of January, Petrobras’
Raizen, a fuel distribution firm, is a joint refineries were operating at around 80% of
venture between the Anglo-Dutch major Royal full capacity. Just a few months later, though,
Dutch Shell and Brazilian ethanol producer throughput began sinking in response to the
Cosan. The firm, which invests globally in COVID-19 pandemic, which cut into global
diverse sectors that include energy, transport, energy demand. By April, capacity utilisation
water and waste management, started a new had dropped to just 60% on average.. ™
fund last year aimed at making investments in
Latin America and Asia’s emerging markets.
Petrobras is selling stakes in the refineries
within the framework of a divestment pro-
gramme rolled out in late 2019. At that time, the
company said it intended to sell $20-30bn worth
of assets, including eight Brazilian oil-process-
ing plants, in the 2020-2024 period.
The state major also said that it planned to
complete the refinery divestments first, by the
end of 2020. However, the impact of the coro-
navirus (COVID-19) pandemic on sales has
pushed deadlines back. The Gabriel Passos
(REGAP) and Abreu e Lima (RNEST) refiner-
ies are now slated to enter the binding phase in REMAN is one of three plants that has drawn a binding offer (Image: Petrobras)

Two major oil traders caught up in

Brazil’s long-running corruption probe

TWO of the world’s largest commodities trad- the company had a zero-tolerance policy for
ers have been caught up in Brazil’s long-running bribery and corruption. “Any suggestion that
Lava Jato (“Car Wash”) probe over the last week. Trafigura’s current management knew that its
One of these is Singapore-headquartered payments would be used to make improper pay-
Trafigura. ments to employees of Petrobras is not correct,”
it said in a statement.
Trafigura Brazilian prosecutors say that the dealings
Last week, state prosecutors in Brazil took legal between Trafigura and Petrobras involved the
action against the trader and several of its former sale of 7.062mn barrels of fuel oil. They claim
executives on corruption allegations involving to have evidence showing that the trading firm
the country’s state-run oil company, Petrobras. secured those contracts by paying bribes worth
The allegations relate to a total of 31 fuel oil pur- BRL6.86mn ($1.35mn) to former employees of
chases and sale transactions, which were carried Petrobras.
out between May 2012 and October 2013. The commodity trader earned a profit of
Prosecutors have said they want a court order almost BRL200mn ($39.4mn) as a result and in
to freeze BRL1bn ($197mn) of the defendants’ turn caused losses for Petrobras, the prosecutors
assets, until there has been a final ruling on the said. The scheme involved a total of 12 people,
case, according to a Petrobras statement. they added.
Singapore-headquartered Trafigura has not Six foreign companies that competed and
so far commented on the legal proceedings. In benefited from the alleged corruption are
September of last year, however, it declared that defendants in the suit, the prosecutors said.

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 49 10•December•2020