Petrobras, the Brazilian state-owned oil company, has signed several agreements to divest non-core business assets for a total of US$587m to reduce the Group's debt.
Petrobras agreed to sold its wholly-owned subsidiaries PetroquímicaSuape and Citepe to the Mexican company Alpek for US$385m. The sale encompasses three petrochemical units.
The Brazilian company also agreed to sale the whole of its interest in Guarani S.A. to the French group Tereos for US$202m. Guarani S.A. is one of the largest companies in the Brazilian sugar and ethanol market, occupying the third position among the largest sugar producers in Brazil. The company holds eight industrial plants, seven of which in Brazil and one in Mozambique.
In addition, the company announced it closed the sale of 100% of the shares in Nansei Sekiyu to Taiyo Oil Company against US$165m. Nansei Sekiyu operates a refinery with a processing capacity of 100,000 bbl/d located on the Island of Okinawa, in Japan.