Petrobras confirms sale of assets with signed contracts – 03/29/2023 – Market

Despite pressure from unions and the government’s insistence, Petrobras will maintain the asset sales processes that have already had contracts signed and whose cancellation would imply high costs for the state-owned company.

This Wednesday (29), the MME (Ministry of Mines and Energy) asked for a new analysis on the suspension of asset sales, claiming that the topic should be analyzed by the new board elected last week.

The current board had already decided to proceed with negotiations with contracts already signed and the position was reinforced by the board of directors in a meeting this Wednesday. The collegiate, however, said it will evaluate other cases if the company’s board approves a change in strategy.

In the official letter sent to the company, the MME requested, “due to the election of a new board, that, once again, the company’s governance rules are respected and in order to preserve national interests”, that the topic be removed from the agenda of the advice.

There are currently five projects in this situation, including oil fields and Lubnor, a lubricant factory located in Ceará.

The suspension of processes is a priority for the company’s workers’ unions, which supported the campaign of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) and even had a representative in the transition group of the new government.

Last week, the FUP (United Federation of Petroleum Workers) carried out a strike, with an act in front of the company’s headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, against the continuity of negotiations. On that day, the board of directors decided that it would review the board’s decision this Wednesday.

This Wednesday, acts were held in Rio and in front of the headquarters of the state-owned company in Salvador. “We will not accept that the Bolsonarist board of directors continues to insist on the dismantling of Petrobras, which goes against the indications of the elected government”, said the general coordinator of the federation, Deyvid Bacelar.

Still in the campaign, the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government already promised to review the state-owned asset sales process, which was accelerated during the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government, contributing to the record distribution of dividends in the period.

In all, according to Dieese (Inter-union Department of Statistics and Socioeconomic Studies), Bolsonarist management at the state-owned company closed 64 operations, with a total value of US$ 33.9 billion (R$ 178 billion, at current exchange rates).

In a note, Petrobras said that it will continue with the processes “in order to fully comply with the rights and obligations already assumed by the company, with calendars and dates already defined to occur throughout the four quarters of 2023, and, in this way, no cause any harm to the parties involved in the negotiations, especially to Petrobras”.

Lubnor is being negotiated with Grepar Participações. Onshore oil fields in Rio Grande do Norte and Espírito Santo are negotiated, respectively, with 3R and Seacrest. And maritime fields on the coast of Espírito Santo are negotiated with BW.

Negotiations in which no contracts were signed will remain under analysis, Petrobras said. There are, today, 18 processes open or already under negotiation. Of these, 12 are in the binding phase, which means that Petrobras already has proposals.

In this more advanced phase there are oil fields, gas pipelines, thermal plants, assets in Colombia, mining rights, a methanol factory and Pbio (Petrobras Biocombustíveis), a company that operates in a segment that the state-owned company intends to resume operations.

Three refineries that Bolsonarist management intended to sell are still in the initial phase of negotiations – they are the units in Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul and Pernambuco. The Lula government has already announced that it intends to resume investment in refining in the country and should cancel these processes.