Cade approves with restrictions the sale of Petrobras refinery in the Northeast

The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) approved, this Wednesday (21) the sale of Refinaria Lubrificantes e Derivados do Nordeste (Lubnor), from Petrobras, to Grepar Participações. The transaction had been under review by the agency since February, and was completed with restrictions.

Among the restrictions, according to Cade, are “not to offer and not to adopt a more advantageous commercial practice to a certain asphalt distributor or adopted by the refinery as its standard commercial policy”. This is because Grepar also operates in the petroleum derivatives sector, which could lead to vertical integration and price increases.

“By means of said agreement, Grepar contracts commitments of a behavioral nature that I believe are sufficient and necessary, in addition to being proportionate, timely, feasible and verifiable to mitigate the concerns verified in the specific case, enabling the approval of this merger”, said Lenise Prado , adviser to Cade.

In addition to the restrictions, the board also determined the hiring of a consultancy to monitor compliance with the established agreement. In a statement to the market this Thursday (22), Petrobras reported that “there are other pending conditions precedent to be fulfilled within the scope of the process”.

The refinery located in Ceará had the sale contract signed in May last year for US$ 34 million. The unit also produces diesel, gasoline, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), aviation kerosene (QAV) and naphtha. In the case of asphalt, the company has a share of 10% of the domestic market and 60% of the Northeastern market.