As announced in July 2017, Brazilian oil and gas group Petrobras has initiated the non-binding divestment phase of several assets in Paraguay, in line with its US$21bn divestment programme for 2017-2018.
Petrobras, Paraguay's largest fuel distributor, will sell its entire equity stake in several gas distribution and trading companies in the country, namely: Petrobras Paraguay Distribución Limited (PPDL), Petrobras Paraguay Operaciones y Logística SRL (PPOL), and Petrobras Paraguay Gas SRL (PPG). The deal includes 197 service stations and 113 convenience stores.
Petrobras faced a massive corruption scandal in 2016 and is also attempting to stabilise its huge debt by reducing costs, selling assets and cutting capital spending. In late June 2017, Petrobras' total debt stood at US$113.8bn (net debt of US$89.3bn), down from US$123.9bn in late June 2016 (US$103.6bn of net debt).
In Brazil, Petrobras may take over some thermal power plants operated by national power utility Eletrobras, in exchange for forgiving some of Eletrobras' R$16bn (US$5bn) in fuel debts. Petrobras may then take over the 570 MW Maua-3 gas-fired power plant commissioned in 2016; alternatively, the power plant could be sold to another buyer and the proceeds from the sale would be repaid to Petrobras.