Brazil Petrobras Postpones $1B Oil Rig Tender Yet Again
Friday January 10, 11:13 PM sg.biz.yahoo.com
RIO DE JANEIRO (Dow Jones)--Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro (PBR), or Petrobras, said late Thursday it has postponed yet again tenders for the construction of two oil platforms.
Petrobras said in a statement that interested bidders now have until between Feb. 12 and 26 to hand in their proposals. The previous deadline was between Jan. 13 and 27 while the original date was Dec. 16.
The oil giant is tendering for construction of the P-51 and P-52 drilling platforms at a cost of $1 billion, according to market sources.
Petrobras said it was "complying with requests from interested bidders for the extension of the deadline for the delivery of the proposals."
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who came to power Jan. 1, has severely criticized the federally owned oil giant for ordering construction of oil rigs abroad instead of building them at home.
The controversy fanned nationalist sentiment in the last weeks of Brazil's presidential election campaign ahead of a final Oct. 27 vote. Lula and the former Petrobras' chief executive Francisco Gros engaged in a heated debate through local media about where to build the rigs.
Recent press reports suggested the extension of the deadline was political, but the company's chief executive Jose Eduardo Dutra said the decision came after potential bidders made the request for more time.
One platform, called P-50, was awarded in July to Singapore-based Jurong Shipyard, whose bid was $14 million lower than that of the Brazilian-Singaporean consortium FelsSetal.
If finished on schedule, the $496 million platform will go online in 2004, processing up to 180,000 barrels of oil a day in Brazil's rich offshore Albacora field.
The rigs are key for Brazil's goal of becoming self-sufficient in oil production by 2005, when domestic consumption could be as high as 2 million barrels per day. Brazil has won worldwide recognition for its deep-sea drilling technology.
-By Adriana Brasileiro, Dow Jones Newswires; (5521) 3288-5004; adriana.brasileiro@dowjones.com