Mubadala Capital and Petrobras in Talks to Form Downstream Partnership in Brazil

Mubadala Capital, the investment arm of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, which has invested more than $5 billion in Brazil since 2012, is in talks with Petrobras, the Brazil government-owned global oil major, to form a downstream partnership in the South American country.

The scope of the partnership involves evaluating the acquisition of a stake in the Mataripe S.A. Refinery (RefMat) and a project under development for an integrated biorefinery (Biorrefinaria).

Mubadala Capital and Petrobras will begin the business evaluation phase, which will include due diligence of the assets, as well as discussion of the appropriate business model for each one. The scope of potential future investments and the development of new technologies will also be discussed together with Mubadala Capital.

However, the two companies informed that they have not signed any binding document on the partnership to date and asserted that the process of analysing the partnership will be done with respect for the processes and internal governance of both companies, the people and the commitments made to governments, regulatory agencies and other stakeholders Material facts will be disclosed to the market in due course.

In fact, Petrobras was reportedly planning to acquire Mataripe refinery (formerly known as RLAM), by the end of H1 of 2023. The refinery was sold to Mubadala in 2021 for $1.65 billion, as part of Brazil’s previous government’s divestment strategy.

Subsequently, Mubdala Capital created a new company Acelen to manage and operate Mataripe Refinery and its related logistics assets on 1 December 2021.

Acelen will continue to supply the regional refined products market and is committed to promoting investment and generating new business opportunities, thereby contributing to the development of both Bahia and Brazil.

RLAM is the first refinery in Brazil and represents an economic and industrial milestone for the country. It is currently the second largest in Brazil, with the highest installed capacity for production of gasoline, diesel and other oil derivatives in the country’s North and Northeast.

It has 26 processing units, 4 terminals and 201 storage tanks, in addition to 669 kilometers of pipeline connecting the refinery to port terminals. The complex produces more than 30 products, including diesel, gasoline, aviation kerosene (QAV), asphalt, petrochemical naphtha, petrochemical gases (propane, propane and butane), paraffins, lubricants, LPG and fuel oils (industrial, thermal and bunker).

About RefMat

The Mataripe Refineryhas a processing capacity of 333,000 barrels/day, and has a set of pipelines that connect the refinery and the terminals, totalling 669 km in length.

The integrated biorefining project, with a projected production capacity of 20,000 barrels/day (in the initial phase), includes a plant to produce renewable diesel and sustainable jet fuel from vegetable oil from native crops, with operations in the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais.