Petrobras informed its employees on Monday, July 10, that the Forbes & Manhattan bank, from Canada, did not fulfill the contract signed with the state-owned company for the purchase of the Shale Industrialization Unit (SIX in the Portuguese acronym), in São Mateus do South, in the state of Paraná. Therefore, the oil company paralyzed the operation of the unit, which was in the process of transition.
The statement from Petrobras was sent to the Oil Workers Union of Paraná and Santa Catarina (Sindipetro PR SC), which questioned the company about the stoppage.
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The Shale Industrialization Unit had been stopped since the end of May for scheduled maintenance. It should have returned to operation on Thursday, July 6th. But that didn't happen.
The plant shutdown due to breach of contract was reported by journalist Leandro Demori in his program on the YouTube channel ICL Notícias and in his newsletter.
Petrobras completed the sale of SIX and Petrosix — technology for extracting fuel oil from bituminous shale rocks — in November last year, during the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro (Liberal Party). There was an agreement with the buyers that would keep SIX operating until they acquired the capacity to do so. This help, however, came at a cost to them.
As the contract has not been fulfilled, Petrobras has paralyzed its services. The workers' wages are guaranteed by the state-owned company.
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The general coordinator of the Single Federation of Petroleum Workers (FUP), Deyvid Bacelar, estimates that the state-owned company has taken a default of around US$29 million. “It is yet another scandal that takes place at SIX, where Petrobras was providing services to Forbes & Manhattan, but was not being paid, which demonstrates the financial and operational inability of this group that bought the Paraná refinery in the Almas Basin, with the help of former Petrobras managers”, he criticized.
“This scenario of breach of contract by the Canadian group is yet another basis for taking legal action and reversing this privatization,” added attorney Angelo Remédio, who represents FUP.
Problem history
A report by Agência Pública published in February revealed that, in 2012, an internal investigation commission at Petrobras investigated a possible leak of confidential information about Petrosix to F&M. For this reason, future business with F&M was not recommended. Even so, the state-owned oil company concluded the sale of SIX to the Canadian group.
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According to Petrobras, the sale is in line with the resolution of the National Council for Energy Policy and is part of the commitment signed by Petrobras with the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade) with the objective of expanding the opening of the refining sector in Brazil.
Petrobras' recommendation has to do with suspicions about the alleged sale of Petrosix information to F&M without the company's consent. The business involved Judge Gabriela Hardt's father, who worked with Sergio Moro in Operation Car Wash. Chemical engineer Jorge Hardt Filho worked at SIX.
Edited by: Rodrigo Durão Coelho
