Petrobras to publish results in April, divest Argentine assets
Brazilian oil major Petrobras is expected to publish its long-delayed audited full-year financial statements, as it attempts to shake-off a corruption scandal.
Citing President Dilma Rousseff, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that the data would be published by the “end of April”. Last year, PwC, the company’s auditor, refused to sign-off on its accounts.
President Rousseff, a former chairwoman of the company’s board of directors, has been politically scarred by the scandal although she denies any knowledge of corruption.
On a related note, Petrobras also announced it would divest all of its assets located in Argentina’ Austral Basin, for $101m to Compania General de Combustibles (CGC).
The asset portfolio includes 26 onshore exploration and production concessions, with an average production of 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, as well as the related distribution, treatment and storage infrastructure.
This is the first sale of assets under a divestment plan revealed on 2 March aimed at raising $13.7bn. In February, anti-corruption investigators uncovered alleged evidence of around $800m in bribes and other illegal funds at Petrobras.
Prosecutors later extended their probe to over 200 corporate entities and nearly 100 people. According to the latest estimate, anything from $3.7bn to over $28bn may have been illegally diverted from Petrobras’ assets.
The revelations led to the resignation of chief executive Maria das Gracas Foster as well as five senior company officials.