Brazil's Petrobras Signs Pact for $10 Billion in Loans From China
February 26 2016 - 7:06PM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Kiernan
RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazil's financially pressed state-controlled
energy company Petróleo Brasileiro SA on Friday said it has signed
a term sheet with China Development Bank to obtain loans worth $10
billion in exchange for supplying petroleum to Chinese
companies.
The deal, details of which are still under discussion, was
vaguely outlined during a May 2015 visit to Brazil by Chinese
Premier Li Keqiang. At that time, Brazilian President Dilma
Rousseff suggested the money could be used for drilling in the
pre-salt geological formation, referring to large, ultra-deepwater
oil deposits off Brazil's coast that Petrobras is struggling to
develop.
Petrobras didn't comment further on the loan or about the
company's intentions for the proceeds.
Saddled with the global oil industry's largest debt burden,
Petrobras has grown increasingly strapped for cash as oil prices
have fallen to their lowest in more than a decade. The company's
strategy to pay down its debt has so far hinged on raising more
than $14 billion through asset sales this year, at a time when oil
companies around the world are doing the same.
Eager for natural resources, China has become a familiar lender
to Latin America in recent years, using its state banks to offer
loans to distressed companies and governments that have been shut
out of private debt markets.
Petrobras dollar bonds maturing in 2020 are trading at just 75
cents on the dollar, reflecting investor doubts about the company's
ability to repay creditors. The bonds have been downgraded to
so-called junk status in recent months alongside the Brazilian
government, which itself has racked up a large budget deficit and a
substantial debt load.
On Feb. 24, Moody's Investors' Service became the latest
credit-ratings firm to downgrade Petrobras, noting the company has
about $23 billion in debt maturing this year and next. And of the
$25 billion in cash holdings reported in September, Moody's says
Petrobras will likely need $8 billion to $10 billion for its
day-to-day operations.
"Free cash flow will remain negative in the foreseeable future,"
Moody's said. "Although Moody's recognizes that the company's has
attractive valuable assets, execution of the sale program as
planned may be difficult under current global industry conditions
and Brazil's economic and political situation."
Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 26, 2016 18:51 ET (23:51 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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