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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras PBR, Brazil's state-owned integrated oil and gas company, faces an arbitration proceeding over unfulfilled pipeline repair obligations. Seacrest Petroleo, an oil and gas field operator in Brazil, recently announced that two of its subsidiaries have filed arbitration proceedings against Petrobras before the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC") to claim damages of about $71 million for non fulfillment of a sale and purchase agreement.
Breach of Purchase Agreement by PBR
In April 2023, Petrobras announced the sale of its entire stake in four onshore production fields in the State of Espírito Santo (jointly called the Norte Capixaba Cluster) to Seacrest Petróleo SPE Norte Capixaba Ltda (Seacrest) for $544 million. The agreement also included the repair of the TNC pipelines as part of its sale of the Norte Capixaba Cluster.
However, PBR’s failure to fulfill its contractual obligations by completing the repairs made it difficult to transport heavy oil at required temperature and pressure levels, leading to a cumulative damage of about $71 million due to production inefficiencies and forced sales of subpar oil blends at significant discounts. Therefore, Seacrest requested suspending its $71 million post-closing payment due to Petrobras on Jan. 2, 2025.
Actions Against PBR by Local Court
A local court also issued an injunction against Petrobras in December, limiting the company’s ability to take any action against Seacrest following its refusal to pay the post acquisition cost of $71.2 million, which was due to Petrobras on Dec. 31 for the purchases of the Cricaré and Norte Capixaba clusters.
PBR’s Zacks Rank and Key Picks
Rio de Janeiro-based Petrobras is the largest integrated energy firm in Brazil. The company’s activities include exploration, exploitation and production of oil from reservoir wells, shale and other rocks, as well as refining, processing, trading and transportation of oil and oil products, natural gas and other fluid hydrocarbons. Currently, PBR has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Investors interested in the energy sector might look at some better-ranked stocks like GeoPark Limited GPRK, ARC Resources Ltd. AETUF and Flotek Industries, Inc. FTK. While GeoPark currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), ARC Resources and Flotek Industries carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.