Petrobras has signed an agreement to purchase ExxonMobil's stakes in Esso Chile Petrolera and other associated Chilean companies. The director of Petrobras’ International Area, Jorge Luiz Zelada, gave a press conference on August 8, at the Company’s main office building, in Rio de Janeiro.

The acquisition, worth $400 million, will give the Brazilian company a 16% share of the Chilean retail market in this segment, in addition to a 14% share in the industrial area. With the deal, Petrobras now owns a network of 8,315 points of sale in six South American Countries.

The agreement covers the fuels business in the retail, industrial, and aviation markets:

230 service stations, including 109 of which self-owned; about half of the total service stations have convenience stores. Fuel distribution and sales at 11 airports. Six fuel distribution terminals, two of which joint ventures. 22% stakes in Sociedad Nacional de Oleoductos, and 33% stakes in Sociedad de Inversiones de Aviación. Sales volumes, in 2007, of approximately 74,000, 40,000, and 20,000 cubic meters per month in the retail, industrial, and aviation segments, respectively. 16% and 14% of the retail and industrial market shares, respectively.

“The operation is important as it consolidates Petrobras’ position in the South American market. We had little participation in Chile, a country where the economy is stable. With this deal, Petrobras now holds significant assets there,” said Petrobras’ International Area’s director, Jorge Luiz Zelada.

Change in control is expected to take place in the second quarter of 2009, together with the payment of some $400 million. Also according to the director, in the next five years, Petrobras plans to invest $90 million in Chile. “The intention is, as of this first deal, to discover new opportunities in the country,” added Zelada. To the director, within a couple of years, all 320 service stations will be displaying the Petrobras brand.

With the acquisition of these distribution and logistics companies, Petrobras ensures high-quality services to consumers, accumulating the excellence in customer service and the technical qualifications of Esso Chile’s 1.320-strong local workforce. ExxonMobile’s chemical, lubricant, and special product businesses in Chile were not part of the agreement.

The deal reinforces Petrobras’ image abroad, especially in Chile, a country to which the Company exported, in 2007, among other products, oil, LPG, natural gas, petrochemicals, and lubricants, with sales topping-out at nearly $1.5 billion. The main derivatives vendor and only refiner in the country is the national oil corporation ENAP, with which Petrobras has an excellent relationship.

This acquisition consolidates the Company’s presence in the fuel distribution segment in Latin America, where, over and beyond in Brazil, it already operates in Argentina, Colombia, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with a network of nearly 1,000 service stations.

The agreement is aligned with Petrobras’ Strategic Planning, which calls for expansion in regions such as Latin America.

Tags: Exxon Mobil Corporation, Petrobras