Brazil’s antitrust regulator, CADEsaid on Friday that the sale of the Reman refinery of the state oil company Petrobras to the fuel distributor Atem was approved without restrictions.
Reuters had reported the regulator’s approval of the deal on Thursday, citing sources.
Petróleo Brasileiro SA, as the company is formally known, had announced in August 2021 an agreement to sell the refinery, which is located in the northern state of Amazonas, for 189.5 million dollars.
The sale still needed to be approved by CADE. Reman is one of eight refineries the company has put up for sale as part of a 2019 deal with the antitrust regulator to improve competition in Brazil’s oil processing sector.
CADE said in a statement that the approval came because its general superintendency considered that Atem would not be able to absorb all of Reman’s gasoline and diesel production on its own, adding that the company will also seek to expand the plant’s output.
“No incentive was found for Atem to close off distribution to competitors, given that there is a high investment in the refinery that will have to be recovered and other alternatives for distributors to stock up on their products,” CADE said.