Petrobras has bought Repsol's 30 per cent stake in the Refap refinery, acquiring full ownership of the facility. Brazilian state-owned Petrobras agreed to pay Reposol $350 million and take on the $500 million debt as part of the stake acquisition.
Petrobras intends to spend around $224 billion between now and 2014, to develop oil fields and expand refining in a bid to increase fuel output by 77 per cent to 3.2 million b/d by 2020. According to the company's refining director, Paulo Roberto Costa, the new acquisition will enable Petrobras to increase capacity and cut costs.
Speaking to the press in Rio de Janerio, Costa said "It's very important for Petrobras to seek synergies between all its refineries." He added that the company expects to supply all its facilities with “100 percent” of domestic oil.
The Refap refinery, said to be Brazil's fifth largest, has the capacity to process as much as 190,000 barrels of crude oil per day.
In 2001, Pertobras sold Repsol a 30 per cent stake in the refinery as part of an asset exchange initiative. Repsol had also bought a chain of service stations around Brazil, which it later sold.
Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg
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