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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