Brazilian energy major Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. or Petrobras (NYSE:PBR) recently announced that the country’s 2nd Federal District Court of Sergipe state has ordered it to suspend the $2.5 billion sale of its stake in the Carcara field to Norwegian oil and gas company, Statoil (OL:STL) ASA (NYSE:STO) .
The National Federation of Oil Workers filed the lawsuit as the union strongly felt that a state-controlled enterprise like Petrobras must hold an open bidding process for selling its assets.
Petrobras had agreed to sell its 66% stake in the offshore prospect to Statoil in Jul 2016 as part of a two-year divestment plan to raise $21 billion to repay its debts. Petrobras and Statoil had reached an agreement to finalize the deal on Nov 22, 2016. In fact, Petrobras received an amount of $1.25 billion from the transaction, which it used for the early settlement of part of the financing contract between Transportadora Associada de Gás S.A., a wholly-owned Petrobras subsidiary, and the Brazilian Development Bank.
Petrobras is now looking at appropriate legal actions to facilitate the closure of deal, benefiting its investors.
About the Company
Petrobras is an integrated company that is involved in exploration, production, refining, retailing and transportation of petroleum and its byproducts, both domestically and internationally. The Brazilian multinational corporation is headquartered in Rio de Janeiro.
Price Performance
In the last one year, Petrobras’ shares gained 33.05%, outperforming the Zacks categorized Emerging Markets Integrated industry, which witnessed a 24.36% increase.
Zacks Rank and Stocks to Consider
Petrobras presently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Some better-ranked stocks in oil and energy sector are Crescent Point Energy Corporation (TO:CPG) and Enerplus Corporation (TO:ERF) . Both of these companies sport Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Crescent Point is expected to record 30.09% year-over-year growth in 2017 sales. The company had an average positive earnings surprise of 127.16% in the last four quarters.
Enerplus Corporation is expected to witness an increase of by 66.12% year over year in current year sales. The company had an average positive earnings surprise of 66.67% in the last four quarters.
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Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.- Petrobras (PBR): Free Stock Analysis Report
Enerplus Corporation (ERF): Free Stock Analysis Report
Crescent Point Energy Corporation (CPG): Free Stock Analysis Report
Statoil ASA (STO): Free Stock Analysis Report
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