Page 15 - LatAmOil Week 20 2022

LatAmOil BRAZIL LatAmOil

CADE greenlights Petrobras’

sale of REMAN refinery to Atem

CADE, the Brazilian government’s anti-trust pay $189.5mn for all of Petrobras’ holdings in
agency, has authorised the national oil company the REMAN refinery and associated infrastruc-
(NOC) Petrobras to proceed with the sale of the ture and logistics assets. The fuel distributor
Refinaria Isaac Sabba (REMAN) plant to Atem, is due to pay $28.4mn immediately as a secu-
a domestic fuel distributor. rity deposit, and it must settle the remaining
Petrobras announced in a statement that sum of $161.1mn upon the closing of the deal,
CADE had approved its deal with Atem, which with the final amount subject to any necessary
has been in the works since August 2021. The adjustments.
anti-trust agency has been reviewing the pro- REMAN is a 46,000 barrel per day (bpd)
posed sale since then, and just last month, it oil-processing plant located in Manaus, the cap-
described the proposed sale as “complex,” say- ital of Amazonas State. The refinery, which is
ing it needed more time to analyse the plan in one of eight state-owned facilities slated for sale,
further detail. has atmospheric distillation, catalytic cracking
CADE had also said in March that it could and vacuum distillation units, and it also owns
not make a decision on the acquisition without a marine terminal. Gasoline and diesel account
first determining how Atem’s plans might affect for about 60% of its total production.
competitive conditions in the local fuel markets Atem is a leading distributor of refined
served by the REMAN refinery. It also warned petroleum products in northern Brazil and is
that this study might delay the completion of the active in the Amazon River basin. The company
transaction. accounted for 22% of the region’s wholesale
According to Petrobras’ statement, the anti- diesel market in the first seven months of 2021,
trust agency gave its “final and unappealable handling 652.4mn litres of fuel purchased from
approval” to the transaction on May 13. This refineries and trading firms. It also claimed 14%
green light is subject to a waiting period of 15 of the regional gasoline market during the same
days and to compliance with the terms and con- period, when it handled 153.8mn litres of fuel.
ditions of the sale. (Its substantial market share prior to the acqui-
Under the terms of the agreement struck sition was the source of CADE’s anti-trust con-
with Petrobras last August, Atem is slated to cerns.) ™

PERU
Peru sues Repsol over January 15 oil spill

THE government of Peru has filed suit against insurance company, the Transtotal Marine ship-
Repsol (Spain) in the 27th Civil Court of the ping agency and the tanker operator Fratelli
Superior Court of Justice of Lima, seeking d’amico Armatori as respondents, he noted.
$4.5bn in damages related to the oil spill that Palacín further stated that the $4.5bn claim
occurred on January 15 at one of the company’s had been made on behalf of the consumers,
four moorings at La Pampilla. users and third parties affected by the oil spill.
According to press reports, Julián Fernando Specifically, he said, Lima is seeking compensa-
Palacín Gutiérrez, the executive president of tion for the more than 700,000 residents of the
Instituto Nacional de Defensa de la Competen- region affected by the spill, plus compensation
cia y de la Protección de la Propiedad Intelectual for the environmental impact of the incident.
(Indecopi), described the lawsuit as the first civil Repsol responded to the government’s
claim against the Spanish company for liabili- action by calling the civil lawsuit “unfounded,
ties. He also stressed that this action was sepa- inadmissible and incongruous, because it does
rate from possible criminal charges that might not address the causes of the spill.” It also chas-
be lodged against the management of Repsol’s tised Lima for failing to acknowledge its work in
La Pampilla refinery. cleaning up the spill and its co-operation with
The civil lawsuit does not only target Repsol, authorities in setting up avenues for affected
he added. It also names the refinery, the Mapfre persons and businesses to secure relief. ™

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