MOSCOW (MRC) -- Brazil's state-controlled oil company Petrobras fears problems with its LNG regasification terminal in Ceara state and a nearby thermoelectric plant could force it to mothball the assets, which it put up for sale earlier this year, according to documents seen by Reuters on Friday.
The documents the company filed to the oil regulator ANP said the Ceara state infrastructure secretariat plans to use the area of the company's LNG terminal for other purposes, which would also prompt it to shutdown the assets operations.
Petrobras said in the documents that the power plant that is linked to the regasifaction terminal at the port of Pecem has also struggled with "innumerable problems", especially with flaws in its turbines.
The TermoCeara thermoelectric plant originally belonged to MPX, which used to belong to former billionaire Eike Batista but was purchased by Petrobras in 2005 for USD137 million.
As MRC reported earlier, Petrobras is seeking to sell its 5.8 billion Brazilian real (USD1.4 billion) stake in petrochemical producer Braskem SA. Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has hired Brazilian bank Banco Bradesco SA as a financial adviser and has started to pitch the sale to foreign investors.
Petrobras owns a 36 percent stake in Braskem, Latin America's largest petrochemical producer. The sale would help Petrobras meet its target of selling USD15.1 billion worth of assets in 2015-16, a key part of its plan to cut debt as oil prices plunge to 12-year lows.
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is an integrated energy firm. Petrobras' activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks as well as refining, processing, trade and transport of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons, in addition to other energy-related activities.
MRC