By Paul Kiernan
RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazilian state-run energy giant Petroleo
Brasileiro SA is still working on an internal investigation of
allegations that it accepted bribes from Netherlands-based SBM
Offshore NV, the company's chief executive said Monday, amid
mounting political tension around the firm.
Petrobras CEO Maria das Gracas Foster said last month that the
company had begun its investigation the week ended Feb. 16 and was
"working to finish it in 30 days." On Monday she denied having
given a hard deadline, saying that "we're very close" to finishing
the internal probe and are "working" to finish it by the end of
March.
The investigation surrounds allegations that Petrobras officials
accepted $139.2 million in bribes from SBM Offshore, a supplier of
offshore oil platforms. Those suspicions arose last year when a
former SBM Offshore employee published on the Internet parts of
documents from the early stages of an internal audit on
"potentially improper payments" made in several countries between
2007 and 2011.
The case has attracted increased scrutiny during the past week
or so in Brazil, which is set to hold presidential elections in
October and where the government plays an active role in Petrobras'
decision-making. Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega serves as
Petrobras' chairman.
Brazil's Congress last week voted to create a commission to
investigate the bribery accusations in what was seen as a
legislative defeat for President Dilma Rousseff, who is widely
expected to seek re-election
Brazil's Federal Police are also launching a probe into the SBM
Offshore allegations as well as possible irregularities in
Petrobras' troubled purchase of an oil refinery near Houston. In
the latter case, Petrobras spent about $1.2 billion--nearly a third
of which were legal fees--to acquire an asset that the previous
owner, Dutch commodities trader Transcor Astra Group SA, had bought
in 2005 for around $60 million.
Petrobras' shares have fallen 25% since the end of last and are
trading near their lowest levels since 2008, weighed down by
concerns about mounting debt and delayed expansion plans.
For its part, SBM Offshore has said the leaked documents that
appear to implicate Petrobras are outdated, and has suggested that
the former employee who published the documents was seeking to
extort the company. SBM Offshore's internal investigation is
focused on payments made in two countries in Africa and another
elsewhere, and the company is working with U.S. and Dutch
authorities
"From our end, based on the results of our internal
investigation, we have no indications of potentially improper sales
practices in Brazil," said Nicolas Robert, SBM Offshore's head of
investor relations.
Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com
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