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Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras's director of Supply and Refining, Paulo Roberto Costa, had some good news on Thursday, February 2.
For the first time in its history the giant oil company will have a trade surplus. And the surplus forecast for 2006 is a respectable US$ 3 billion. Costa reports that this year Brazil will become self-sufficient in petroleum, largely thanks to the arrival of a new platform, the P-50, which began operating last month. As a result, average daily production will rise from 1.7 million barrels (the 2005 average) to 1.9 million barrels (by the end of 2006). Petrobras will also bring another platform into operation, the P-34, before the end of the year. It has plans for 12 more production units to be operational by 2010. It is estimated that average daily production will reach 2.3 million barrels by then. El Paso Assets Petrobras also reports that it has signed a memorandum of understanding under which it will pay US$ 375.5 million for the Brazilian assets of the US firm, El Paso. In a note to the Brazilian equivalent of the SEC (Bolsa de Valores de São Paulo) (Bovespa), Petrobras explains it will acquire El Paso Rio Grande and El Paso Rio Claro, which are Brazilian subsidiaries (affiliates) of the US firm, and owners of the Macaé Merchant thermoelectric power plant in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In the note Petrobras says it expects to finalize the deal in March. ABr
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