State-controlled energy company
Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.
or
Petrobras
(
PBR
) inked a vessel chartering and operating deal with the trio Sete
Brasil, Odebrecht S.A. and Etesco.
Per the deal, nine drilling vessels will be manufactured in Brazil
and chartered to Petrobras thereafter for 15 years. These rigs form
the last leg of the set of 21 rigs that was awarded to Petrobras by
Sete Brasil in an agreement signed in early February.
Out of the nine contacted rigs, six will be constructed at the
Enseada Paraguaçu shipyard in Maragogipe. Four of these vessels
will be operated by Odebrecht and the other two by Etesco. The
remaining three drilling vessels will be set-up at the Rio Grande 2
shipyard and Etesco will operate them.
These drilling vessels will be constructed using local content of
about 55%-65%. The rigs - slated to be delivered in 2016 - have a
drilling capacity of up to 32,808.4 feet, and are able to operate
in water depth of 9,842.5 feet. The rigs will be used for
exploration activities in the pre-salt layer of Santos Basin.
Headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Petrobras is the largest
integrated energy firm in Brazil, dominating the country's energy
sector. The company produces a lion's share of South American
country's crude oil and natural gas, and accounts for almost all of
the country's refining capacity.
In early August, Petrobras reported second-quarter 2012 loss of
R$1.3 billion or R$0.11 per share, compared with earnings of R$10.9
billion or R$0.84 in the year-earlier quarter. Loss per ADR came in
at 10 cents (1 ADR = 2 shares), far worse than the Zacks Consensus
Estimate of 33 cents in profit.
The company's net operating revenues of $34.7 billion were down
9.4% from the second-quarter 2011 level. Quarterly results were
dragged down by a weak domestic currency, rising costs and heavy
fuel imports.
Petrobras - which is the fourth biggest company by market
capitalization after
ExxonMobil Corp.
(
XOM
),
Royal Dutch Shell plc
(
RDS.A
) and
Chevron Corporation
(
CVX
) - currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank (short-term Hold rating).
CHEVRON CORP (CVX): Free Stock Analysis Report
PETROBRAS-ADR C (PBR): Free Stock Analysis
Report
ROYAL DTCH SH-A (RDS.A): Free Stock Analysis
Report
EXXON MOBIL CRP (XOM): Free Stock Analysis
Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Zacks Investment
Research