Petrobras Transpetro Unit Won't Delay 49-Tanker Plan

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

31 Oct 2008

The transport unit of Petroleo Brasileiro SA will be able to maintain a 49-ship fleet expansion program because it has sufficient financing from a government fund and can ignore the world credit crunch, the unit's president said. Brazil's Merchant Marine Fund, managed by state-development bank BNDES, has enough cash to pay the $2.5 billion needed for 26 tankers that have already been ordered, said Sergio Machado, president of Rio de Janeiro-based Transpetro, as the unit is known. The fund can also finance another 23 ships that will be ordered by the end of the year, he said.
State-controlled Petrobras, as Transpetro's parent is known, may delay some investments as oil prices fall and credit becomes scarce, Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli said Oct. 20. The credit crunch may force the cancellation of 20 percent of the deepwater oil rigs under construction, Brian Uhlmer, analyst at Pritchard Capital Partners in Houston, said.
``Everything regarding our shipbuilding program is defined and is part of Brazil's strategic plan,'' Machado said in a phone interview from his office. ``The Transpetro program is fully financed.''
On Oct. 7, Brazilian cabinet chief Dilma Rousseff said the government will make 10 billion reais ($4.75 billion) available to the Merchant Marine Fund and BNDES to make up for any shortfall in international lending.
Other Ship Programs
Machado said he could not comment on plans for other Petrobras shipbuilding programs. His parent company plans to build 146 tugs and service vessels and 68 oil platforms and oil drilling rigs on its own. These ships are not part of Transpetro's operations.
The service ships, platforms and rigs are expected to cost $30 to $40 billion.
Brazilian shipyards building vessels for the Transpetro program include Estaleiro Maua, controlled by Brazil's Synergy Group, in Rio de Janeiro and Estaleiro Atlantico Sul near Recife, Brazil.
Estaleiro Atlantico Sul is a shipyard group that includes Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries Co. and Brazilian construction companies Camargo Correia SA and Construtora Queiroz Galvao. Norway's Aker Yards ASA is also involved in building ships for the Transpetro program, according to Transpetro's press office.
Strategic Plan Delayed
Petrobras on Oct. 17 said it would delay release of its 2009-2013 strategic plan until December because of difficulty in making projections as oil and stock prices plunged and loans dried up. Before the delay, Chief Financial Officer Almir Barbassa said that it was likely the new plan would increase planned investments from the $112 billion proposed in the company's 2008-2012 plan.
``I can only speak for our program, Transpetro's program, and that program has not been delayed,'' Machado said. ``We may even see some of the costs for the program drop as the world economy finds a new equilibrium.''
Petrobras's press office did not return calls requesting comment.
Petrobras preferred shares, the company's most-traded class of stock, rose 6.8 percent to 22.85 reais in Sao Paulo trading.

Source: Bloomberg