CFO: Petrobras to Speed Asset-Sale Plan, May Add Debt

The sale of oil fields, exploration rights, refineries and other assets are being made to help finance a $237 billion, five-year investment plan. Selling assets, though, has been harder than expected. In March, Petrobras lowered its forecast for the value of asset sales by nearly 40 percent to $9 billion from $14.8 billion.

The expansion plan aims to develop giant new offshore oil fields south of Rio de Janeiro to more than double oil and natural gas output to 5.2 million barrels a day and build up to five refineries to increase refining capacity by a third to 3 million barrels a day by 2020.

If it succeeds, Brazil could become one of the top-five oil producers in the world in less than a decade.

Delays though have been frequent, meaning Petrobras will have to wait longer to earn the cash lenders are counting on to pay existing debts.

Fallen Behind

While Petrobras hopes to start four, new floating offshore production systems by the end of the year with the capacity to produce up to 400,000 barrels a day of crude, all have fallen behind schedule since March.

The P-63 FPSO production ship is now set to start output in late October, more than three months behind the outlook in March, Jose Formigli, head of exploration and production said.

The P-55 semi-submersible platform to boost output from the giant Roncador field is also behind schedule, he added.


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