Petrobras Takes Two of Six Port Terminals in Brazil Auction

Brazil auctioned off six port terminals for liquid fuels in the northern state of Para to private operators on Friday, with subsidiaries of state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA winning two of the areas.

The government raised nearly 450 million reais ($117 million) in the auction of the terminals — five in the Miramar port in the city of Belem and one in the Vila do Conde port in the city of Barcarena.

The rights to operate the terminals are the latest in a slew of assets Brazil is selling as part of its drive to shore up public finances and reduce a gaping budget deficit.

In an auction broadcast online, Petrobras Distribuidora SA - also known as BR Distribuidora - won a 20-year lease on a terminal in the port of Miramar with a bid of 50 million reais ($12.94 million).

Petrobras Transporte SA (Transpetro) took another terminal in the same port for 20 years with a bid of 30.3 million reais.

Ipiranga, Brazil's largest private fuel distributor and a subsidiary of Ultrapar Participacoes SA, won a third lease of 15 years in Miramar with a bid of 87.1 million reais.

(Reuters, Reporting by Jake Spring Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)