Petrobras has decided to suspend the technical assistance services related to the sale process of the SIX (Shale Industrialization Unit) refinery, located in Paraná, due to non-payment.

In November 2011, the state-owned company announced the sale of the refinery to Forbes & Manhattan Resources, a subsidiary of Forbes & Manhattan (F&M). The sales contract amounted to 178.8 million reais ($33 million). F&M is a privately held Canadian mining-focused holding company.

At the time, SIX was the third unit sold by the state-owned company and was part of a set of eight Petrobras refineries being sold, which together accounted for half of the country’s refining capacity. In March 2021, the contract for the sale of the Landulpho Alves (Rlam) refinery in Bahia was signed and, in August, it was the turn of Isaac Sabbá (Reman), in Manaus, Amazonas.

With the PT coming to power, Petrobras suspended the process of selling the remaining refineries. According to the Single Federation of Petroleum Workers (FUP), the default granted by the Canadian company is estimated at around 140 million reais.

According to Deyvid Bacelar, general coordinator of FUP, Petrobras was providing services to Forbes & Manhattan under the so-called “temporary administrative support and technical support for the operation of the refinery”, a normal process during the management transition, but was not being paid. For Bacelar, this demonstrates the financial and operational incapacity of the central purchasing office.

He recalled that the FUP, Anapetro, the association which represents the oil workers who are minority shareholders of

Petrobras and Sindipetro do Paraná, represented by the law firm Garcez Advogados, sent a request for information to Petrobras on the terms of the contract between the parties.

– This scenario of breach of contract by the Canadian group is yet another basis for taking legal action and reversing this privatization – says lawyer Angelo Remédio, of Garcez Advogados.

In a statement sent to the union, Petrobras indicated that since last Monday, due to the non-fulfilment of contractual obligations by the purchasing company, Petrobras has suspended the provision of transition services.

Asked, Petrobras indicated that it had temporarily suspended its services for non-compliance with the buyer’s obligations.

In a note, the state-owned company also said that the provision of services by Petrobras will remain suspended until a mutually agreed solution is found, based on subsequent negotiations between the parties.

“Petrobras will continue to adopt all the measures under its responsibility to guarantee the maximum safety of the people and the facilities in which it operates in São Mateus do Sul,” the company said.