$3.5 billion Petrobras oil deal deepens China-Brazil ties

World Today

The last few months have been rough for Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras. Earlier this month, it posted its biggest loss ever even-point-two billion dollars in 2014 stemming from a giant corruption scandal. As traditional sources of financing dried up, China seized the opportunity to deepen its commercial ties to the South American country. CCTV America’s Paulo Cabral filed this report from Sao Paulo.

Follow Paulo Cabral on Twitter @paulonumundo

Highlights:

  • There are no reliable estimates on how many billion barrels of oil are buried under four-thousand meters of sea, salt and rocks, offshore Brazil but analysts predict most of a three-and-a-half billion dollar loan, from the state-owned China Development Bank to oil giant Petrobras, will likely be spent drilling there.
  • While official details of the loan are not being released, local media reports this latest deal is similar to the one Brazil signed with the Chinese bank back in 2009. Under that agreement, China would be guaranteed a certain amount of exported oil from Brazil.