MOSCOW (MRC) -- Petrobras Distribuidora SA, the fuel distribution unit of Brazilian state-run oil firm Petroleo Brasileiro SA, will study a possible purchase of refineries being sold by its parent company, reported Reuters with reference to an executive.
Petrobras, as the oil firm is widely known, announced in April a plan to sell eight refineries in a move it said could fetch some USD15 billion. Also in April, the firm confirmed plans to dilute its stake in Petrobras Distribuidora via a follow-on offering in a process that is expected to privatize the unit.
The newly privatized unit will then examine a purchase of the refineries, Petrobras Distribuidora Chief Executive Rafael Grisolia said on a call with analysts following first quarter results on Tuesday.
"It’s clear that, as a distributor, we have to look at this from various angles," Grisolia said.
Among the other possible buyers of the refineries, analysts say, are competing fuel distribution firms such as Raizen and Ipiranga, a unit of Ultrapar Participacoes SA. Trading firms with operations in Brazil’s downstream segment, such as Glencore PLC and Vitol SA, are also seen as candidates, as well as international oil companies with production activities in Brazil.
Brazil-listed shares in Petrobras Distribuidora were up 2.8 percent in afternoon trade after the firm posted a 93 percent rise in first-quarter net income on Monday night.
As MRC wrote previously, in October 2017, Petrobras’s minority stakes in Braskem and Deten Quimica was excluded from Petrobras’s divestment program, according to a government decree published in Brazil’s Official Gazette. The decree prevented Petrobras from immediately selling its minority stake in Braskem, which had been announced last year. A new decree will be required to release the stock sale.
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.
MRC