Petrobras Sells Peruvian Subsidiary To China For $2.6 Billion

A Bolivian employee of Brazil's oil giant Petrobras subsidiary Petrobras Bolivia shows a natural gas facility at the Gualberto Villarroel , 8m (about 5 miles) south of Cochabamba, Bolivia, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2006. The nationalization of Bolivia's hydrocarbons industry took two steps forward this week as the government opened long-awaited contract negotiations with foreign petroleum companies while collecting the first round of higher royalties it now charges those firms. Representatives of the French company Total S.A. sat down with Hydrocarbons Ministry officials Tuesday in La Paz to begin drawing up a new contract ceding a majority share of their Bolivian operations to the government, as required by President Evo Morales' May 1 nationalization decree. Contract negotiations with other international firms _ including Brazil's state-owned Petrobras and the Spanish-Argentine firm Repsol YPF _ are expected to follow.(AP Photo/Nano Cartagena) ((AP Photo/Nano Cartagena))

Brazil's state-run oil company says it has sold its Peruvian subsidiary to China National Petroleum Co. for $2.6 billion.

Petrobras says in a Wednesday statement that the deal still must be approved by the Chinese and Peruvian governments.

Included in the deal are the three oil and gas fields that Petrobras has in Peru.

It's the latest move by Petrobras to shed assets and bring in cash. It said earlier this year it wants to raise $9.9 billion through such sales.

According to the company's third-quarter earnings statement, Petrobras' debt has jumped 19 percent this year, in part because it sells imported gasoline at a loss in Brazil to keep prices low. That's putting a strain on its ambitious investment plans to develop big offshore reserves discovered near Brazil's coastline.