Maersk plans US$1.7b Brazil writedown

[RIO DE JANEIRO] Danish oil and shipping group AP Moller-Maersk moved to shrink its Brazilian petroleum operations, selling its stake in its only producing Brazilian oilfield and saying it will write off US$1.7 billion of investments in the country.

The write-off affects two exploration areas, Itaipu and Wahoo, which failed to deliver on oil volume expectations, and the Polvo field, both northeast of Rio de Janeiro in the Campos Basin, Maersk said.

Maersk bought the assets from South Korea's SK Energy Co Ltd for US$2.4 billion in 2011. On Tuesday, Brazil's HRT Participacoes em Petroleo SA said it bought Maersk'…