Brazilian federal oil company Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR, PETR4.BR) said Tuesday that it was still in talks with Petroleos de Venezuela SA to complete a joint-venture deal to build a refinery in Brazil's Pernambuco state.
Brazilian federal oil company Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR, PETR4.BR) said
Tuesday that it was still in talks with Petroleos de Venezuela SA to complete a
joint-venture deal to build a refinery in
Brazil
's
Pernambuco state.
PdVSA, as the Venezuelan company is also known, still faces several hurdles to
officially take its expected 40% stake in the Abreu e
Lima
refinery currently under construction, Petrobras said in a statement. PdVSA
must purchase 40% of the shares in the joint-venture company, assume 40% of
already contracted loans for the project and meet loan guarantee demands from
the Brazilian National Development Bank, or BNDES, Petrobras said.
Petrobras's comments follow weekend reports that Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez finalized PdVSA's participation in the project in a phone conversation
with Brazilian counterpart Dilma Rousseff.
"All information regarding the entrance of PdVSA as a partner in Abreu e
Lima
will
be divulged by Petrobras at the moment that it's undertaken," Petrobras
said.
The refinery joint venture has been beset with bickering and delays since the
deal was first reached in March 2008, with Petrobras pledging to build the
nearly $15 billion refinery with or without the participation of PdVSA. The
full cost of refinery construction was included in Petrobras's $224.7 billion
2011-2015 investment plan released in July.
Petrobras had been expected to hold a 60% stake in the 230,000-barrel-a-day
refinery, with PdVSA assuming the remaining 40%. The refinery was to process
heavy oil from both
Brazil
and
Venezuela
. Should
PdVSA not participate in the project, Petrobras will be able to save some cash
by not needing to install specialized equipment to process heavy crude from
Venezuela
's
Carabobo field.
Petrobras plans to boost refining capacity to 3.6 million barrels a day by
2015, from its current capacity of 1.9 million barrels a day, to meet
expectations for growing fuel demand in
Brazil
.
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