Sinochem mulls stake sale in Brazil oilfield
Peregrino offshore asset has the capacity to pump 100,000 barrels of crude a day
China’s Sinochem is exploring the sale of its 40 per cent stake in Brazil’s Peregrino offshore oilfield, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters, a deal that could see the state-owned conglomerate walk away from what was once touted as a key overseas asset because of historically low oil prices.
The oil and chemicals firm agreed to buy the stake from Norway’s Statoil for $3.07 billion (Dh11.28 billion) in 2010 — beating out a raft of Chinese rivals chasing high-quality assets.
The Norwegian giant owns the other 60 per cent of Peregrino, the largest heavy oilfield it operates outside its home patch.
But two of the people knowledge of the matter with said Sinochem is moving to sell its largest overseas upstream stake — with capacity to pump 100,000 barrels a day — as it reshapes its assets to reflect oil prices having halved in the last two and a half years. With that in mind, one person said, Sinochem was pitching the sale at a big discount to its purchase price.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported Sinochem was in early talks to buy a stake in Singapore-listed commodity trader Noble Group, a move that would further its ambitions to become more active in global energy trade and also develop China’s gas industry.
The process to sell the Brazilian stake is still at an early stage and a final decision would depend on how the negotiations progress, the people familiar with the matter said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss it publicly.
Statoil declined to comment and Sinochem did not respond to requests for comment. Two sources said Sinochem’s intent to sell the stake has been shared with India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation. ONGC did not respond to requests for comments.
One person said the stake is also likely to be pitched to other international buyers, including some Japanese firms and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company, which snapped up Royal Dutch Shell’s stake in Thailand’s Bongkot gasfield for $900 million last month.