The Brazilian state-run oil and gas company Petrobras and CNPC's fully-owned subsidiary China National Petroleum Corporation International (CNPCI) have signed a Heads of Agreement (HoA) to advance negotiations on a strategic partnership. CNPCI could take part to the Marlim offshore oil field in the Campos basin off Brazil and in the 165,000 bbl/d Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex (Comperj) project, which is currently stalled.
The first unit of the Comperj refinery, located in Itaboraí (Rio de Janeiro), was supposed to be commissioned in August 2016. In August 2015, Petrobras delayed the commissioning of the refinery (then 80% complete) to 2020, or earlier if it can find a partner to help complete the refinery. In March 2016, Petrobras announced it failed to find a project and delayed it until 2023.
Petrobras and CNPC have been partners in the Libra area in the Santos Basin pre-salt layer since 2013. In 2017, they formed a consortium with BP (40% Petrobras operator, 20% CNPC, 20% BP) that won the Peroba Block.