Fortaleza City Hall asks for compensation for sale of refinery

Lubnor land, negotiated by Petrobras last week, had part of the area provided by the city hall in the 1960s

The city hall of Fortaleza-CE asks for reimbursement for a part of the land of the Lubnor refinery (Lubricants and Petroleum Derivatives of the Northeast), negotiated by Petrobras on Thursday (May 26, 2022).

The public area was granted by the city in the late 1960s and is equivalent to 30% of the total, or about 60,000 m² of the 218,000 m² occupied by the refinery. The project was acquired by Grepar Participações Ltda. for US$ 34 million (R$ 164.4 million). As the sale agreement cancels the assignment of space, the city government understands that it should receive compensation for the deal.

Lubnor was the 4th refinery to have the sales contract signed out of the 8 that are part of the agreement signed in 2019 between Petrobras and Cade (Administrative Council for Economic Defense), which aims to reduce the oil company’s share in the refining market. The transaction is subject to Board approval.

In the purchase agreement, Grepar committed to pay US$9.6 million following the completion of the deal and another US$21 million in installments, in addition to the US$3.4 million already paid to the Brazilian state-owned company. The information was published by Fábio Zanini in Newspaper.

Petrobras informed that it is talking to the city hall about the matter “more than a year ago” and that Grepar is aware of the matter. The administration of the capital of Ceará estimates that the public areas of the land are estimated at R$ 40 million.

In a note released on the 5th, the Ineep (Institute for Strategic Studies of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels), however, said that the value corresponds to 55% of the amount for which it should have been sold, according to the institute’s calculation parameters. That is, Petrobras would have sold the asset for a price below what it is really worth. Here’s the intact (43 KB).