China's CNOOC eyes Petrobras' stake in Braskem: paper

[BRASILIA] China's CNOOC Ltd is interested in purchasing a minority stake in Brazilian petrochemical company Braskem SA from state-run Petroleo Brasileiro SA, newspaper Valor said on Monday.

A Petrobras source told Reuters in January the company had been receiving interest from major international chemical companies for its 36 per cent stake in Braskem's total capital. Talks are still preliminary, Valor said.

Representatives for Petrobras and CNOOC were not immediately available to comment on the Valor report.

Petrobras have tried to speed up a long-stalled program to sell assets as it struggles to finance expansion and pay down its US$130 billion debt, the largest of any oil company.

Braskem's controlling shareholder Grupo Odebrecht SA , Latin America's largest engineering conglomerate, is also seeking to exit Braskem and could sell its stake in a joint transaction with Petrobras, three sources told Reuters last week.

REUTERS