Abu Dhabi's Mubadala buys refinery assets from Brazil's Petrobras for $1.65bn

The Landulpho Alves facility is one of Brazil's oldest and has a capacity of 333,000 bpd

Petrobras' Landulpho Alves Refinery is the third-largest refinery in Brazil and refines products including liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, diesel fuel and lubricants.. REUTERS

Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Group bought a refinery and logistics assets from Brazil's state oil company Petrobras for $1.65 billion, as the company looks to expand its oil and gas assets abroad.

The transaction included the sale of the Landulpho Alves Refinery as well its associated logistics assets in the state of Bahia.

The refinery, one of Brazil's oldest, is also its third largest. It includes an integrated petrochemical complex, which is one of the largest in the southern hemisphere.

It is capable of refining liquefied petroleum gas, gasoline, diesel fuel and lubricants. It has a capacity of 333,000 barrels per day.

Mubadala has exposure to the associated chemicals assets through its investment in Spanish group Cepsa, in which it is the majority shareholder with a 63 per cent stake.

Cepsa owns 72 per cent of Camaçari in Bahia state, with the remainder held by Petrobras. The facility is the world's largest linear alkylbenzene (LAB) manufacturing plants.

Cepsa is also a major producer of LAB – a component used in the manufacture of biodegradable detergents. The Spanish firm is also developing a facility to produce LAB in Abu Dhabi in the Ruwais downstream hub.

Mubadala has invested more than $2bn (Dh7.34bn) in Brazil in energy, infrastructure and other sectors as of 2019.

The company's deal with Petrobras provides for "adjustments in the sale value due to variations in working capital, net debt and investments until the closing of the transaction", the Brazilian company said in a statement.

Petrobras will continue to operate the refinery and associated assets until all the conditions for the transaction are met and will continue to provide ongoing support during a transition period.

Mubadala, which manages more than $232bn in assets, invests on behalf of the Abu Dhabi government across sectors. Its international investments include stakes in Softbank's Vision Fund, Reliance Retail Ventures, Austria’s oil and gas entity OMV and petrochemicals companies Borealis and Nova Chemicals.