Economy

Petrobras Studies Cartagena Refinery

by Adriaan Alsema

Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petroleo
Brasileiro SA (PBR), or Petrobras, is studying whether to buy a 51% stake in
Colombia’s Cartagena refinery, the chief executive of Petrobras in Colombia told
financial newspaper La Republica.

“We will study whether there is a space in our portfolio to enter in this
project as Petrobras bought refineries in the U.S., Japan and participates in
the construction of four more in Brazil,” Abilio Ramos said in Thursday’s
edition of the paper.

On Tuesday, Colombia’s state-controlled oil company Ecopetrol agreed to buy back Swiss commodity company Glencore International AG’s 51% stake
in the country’s second-largest refinery for $549 million. Glencore returned the
stake as it failed to raise the necessary financing.

Ramos also said Petrobras plans to invest $404 million in Colombia over the
next five years.

Officials at Petrobras didn’t return phone calls seeking confirmation of the
information.