By Jeffrey T. Lewis


SÃO PAULO--Petróleo Brasileiro said Monday it terminated the contract to sell a refinery located in the city of Fortaleza because of the lack of compliance by the buyer, Grepar Participações.

The Brazilian oil company known as Petrobras announced the sale of the Lubnor refinery in May of last year. Petrobras said Monday the buyer didn't meet conditions established in the contract by the final deadline, without disclosing what those conditions were.

State-controlled Petrobras had been selling non-core assets under Brazil's two previous presidents while focusing on boosting production from its rich offshore fields in deep waters off the coast of the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

After Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office in January, Petrobras's new management has canceled many of the proposed asset sales and the company is expected to boost onshore investment.

The Lubnor refinery is one of Brazil's leading asphalt producers and is the only refining unit in the country that produces naphthenic lubricants, Petrobras said.


Write to Jeffrey T. Lewis at jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-27-23 0657ET