MOSCOW (MRC) -- Iran and Brazil are in talks about a possible Iranian investment in troubled refinery projects controlled by Brazilian state-led oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA, a Brazilian government source told Reuters.
Iran, which is boosting oil output after the end of sanctions over its nuclear program, is interested in exporting oil to Brazil and processing that crude at refineries in Brazil's northeastern region, the source said.
The source added that talks are at an early stage.
Iran has shown interest in investing in the construction of the Premium I and Premium II refineries in Brazil's northeastern states of Maranhao and Ceara, the source said. The refineries are designed to produce low-sulfur fuels. While plans for those projects were developed by Petrobras, as the state-owned oil company is known, they have been dropped from its investment plan.
To help reduce its debt of abut USD130 billion, Petrobras plans to sell USD15.1 billion of assets by the end of this year and it has long said it has been seeking partners for its refinery assets.
As MRC informed earlier, Petroleo Brasileiro SA agreed to sign a naphtha supply contract with Braskem SA, Latin America's largest petrochemical producer, for five years. Under terms of the deal, which was announced in a securities filing, Braskem will pay the equivalent of 102.1% of the benchmark ARA price for naphtha, a petrochemical feedstock.
Petroleo Brasileiro SA is also known as Petrobras. Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
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