State-owned Petróleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras), Rio de Janeiro, and Acron Group, Moscow, are expected to sign a sale and purchase agreement next month for the Brazilian oil and gas group’s still-to-be completed nitrogen fertilizer complex, Unidade de Fertilizantes Nitrogenados III (UFN-III) in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul state, according to a report by Brazilian financial newspaper Valor Econômico.
Reports have been circulating in recent weeks speculating that Acron is the would-be-buyer of Petrobras’ 100 percent stake in the UFN-III assets (GM July 19, p. 25; June 28, p. 27).
Earlier this month, according to the Bolivian Ministry of Hydrocarbons, the Russian fertilizer group and Bolivian state-run oil and gas company Yacomientos Petrolíferos Fiscales Bolivianos (YPFB) were said to have reached an agreement for the supply of gas to “a fertilizer plant in Brazil’s Mato Grosso do Sul state.” The Brazilian plant in question is presumed to be the still-to-be completed UFN-III assets.
Petrobras put UFN-III up for sale in September 2017, together with its 100 percent stake in nitrogen fertilizer plant Araucária Nitrogenados SA (ANSA), in Paraná state (GM Sept. 15, 2017). Last year, Acron was reported to be in exclusive negotiations with the Brazilian group to buy UFN-III together with ANSA, which at the time were being offered for sale as a package (GM May 11, 2018).
Acron, for its part, has never confirmed publicly its interest in the Petrobras fertilizer plants. Petrobras this week had not responded by press time to Green Markets’ enquiries for comment.
UFN III is thought to be about 81 percent complete. Its production capacity will include 3,600 mt/d of urea, 2,200 mt/d of ammonia, and 290 mt/d of carbon dioxide. According to the Bolivian Ministry of Hydrocarbons earlier this month, Acron and YPFB will invest some US$2 billion to complete the plant, with its start-up targeted for 2023 (GM July 12, p. 1; July 19, p. 25). The Bolivian oil and gas company would take a 12 percent stake in the plant with an option to increase the holding to 30 percent, according to the ministry.