Air BP has announced the purchase of aviation fuel assets at seven Brazilian airports from Shell Brasil Holding B.V. and Cosan S.A. Indústria e Comercio for R$185m (ca. US$100m).

The acquisition will give Air BP access to Guarulhos, Recife, Viracopos, Curitiba and Pampulha airports, as well as increasing capacity at existing Air BP operations in Galeão and Brasília. The deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2012 subject to regulatory approvals.

On completion, Air BP will be present at 18 Brazilian airports which together account for some 66 percent of aviation fuel demand in Brazil. The deal adds physical assets such as storage tanks, vehicles and pipelines for into-plane refuelling, allowing Air BP to market fuel direct to commercial airlines and general aviation customers at the new locations. “This acquisition is another step forward in BP’s growth strategy in Brazil which has become a key centre of investment for us,” said Tufan Erginbilgic, BP’s chief operating officer, refining and marketing. “In addition to achieving strong growth in Air BP and Castrol lubricants, in 2008 we were the first

international oil company to invest in Brazil’s biofuels industry and we recently took that investment total to well over $1bn through acquisitions.”

In 2011, BP also gained government approvals for the purchase of significant deepwater exploration and production assets in the Campos and Camamu-Almada basins offshore and onshore in the Parnaiba basin.

For Air BP’s new investment, approximately 80 employees will be recruited at airports and the head office in Sao Paulo to manage the new business, increasing total headcount by some 70 percent over the next two years.

“Demand growth for aviation fuel in Brazil is well above the average global rates at around 16 percent. The purchase of these new assets will allow Air BP to accelerate its ambitious plans to grow its share of supply. This is a move welcomed by our customers as it will increase competition in the market,” said Ricardo Paganini, Air BP country manager in Brazil.

“BP's investments in Brazil are fundamental to our growth agenda. This year has been key to that growth with the significant expansion of BP's exploration and production business in Brazil, the acquisition of CNAA and the Tropical BioEnergia ethanol businesses and now with the expansion of our aviation fuel business. Brazil is a country blessed with natural and human resources and a growing market and we are pleased with the opportunity to be part of the country's industrial development,” said Guillermo Quintero, BP Brazil’s regional president.

BP in Brazil

• Earlier in 2011 BP acquired the exploration and production company Devon Energy do Brasil. It acquired a diverse and broad deepwater exploration acreage position offshore Brazil with interests in eight licence blocks in the Campos and Camamu-Almada basins, in water depths ranging from 100-2,780 metres, as well as two onshore licences in the Parnaiba basin. The Campos basin blocks include three discoveries - Xerelete, pre-salt Wahoo and Itaipu - and the producing Polvo field.

• In 2011 BP acquired a majority 99.97 per cent stake in Companhia Nacional de Açúcar e Álcool (CNAA). BP is the operator of the CNAA mills in Itumbiara, Goiás and Ituiutaba, Minas Gerais. The mills will be able to supply both Brazilian and international markets with ethanol for transport fuels. The agricultural land used for sugarcane cultivation related to all BP’s operations in Brazil is within the areas permitted under Brazil's proposed Agro-Ecological Zoning of Sugarcane (Zoneamento Agroecológico da Cana-de-açúcar).

• In 2011, BP became the 100% owner and operator of Tropical BioEnergia S.A.; an ethanol producing mill located in Edéia, Goiás state. BP intends to double the annual operational capacity of Tropical BioEnergia to five million tonnes of crushed cane, or 450 million litres of ethanol equivalent by 2014. BP acquired its initial 50 per cent stake in Tropical BioEnergia in 2008, and the remaining 50% interest in 2011.

BlueSky Business Aviation News | 22nd December 2011 | Issue #156

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