Petrobras sheds gas, hydro plants
Brazilian national oil company Petrobras announced on July 30 it had signed contracts on the sale of interests in two power generation companies to local firm Global Participacoes em Energia (GPE) for 160.3mn reais ($31.5mn).
The company, in the midst of a sweeping divestment programme aimed at paying down its debt and freeing up capital for deepwater offshore projects, is to sell a 20% stake in Termeletrica Potiguar (TEP) and a 40% interest in Companhia Energetica Manauara (CEM). TEP owns two hydroelectric plants in Tocantins, with capacities of 11.4 and 14 MW respectively, while CEM controls a 85.4-MW natural gas-fired thermal power plant in the state of Amazonas.
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The deals will need the approval of authorities, Petrobras said. The buyer GPE has operated in the Brazilian power generation market for two decades, controlling seven plants in the states of Rio Grande do Norte, Amazonas, Tocantins and Bahia. It recently struck a deal to buy three more thermal power plants from Petrobras in the state of Bahia.
Petrobras also agreed this week to sell a 51% interest in gas distribution holding Gaspetro 2.03bn reais ($400mn) to Compass, a subsidiary of Brazilian energy group Cosan.