Summary The firm announced its Argentine division had sold $101 million of onshore exploration
RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - Share prices for Brazilian state-owned oil giant Petrobras soared Wednesday after it announced it had signed an agreement to obtain $3.5 billion in funding from the China Development Bank (CDB).
A huge kickbacks scandal which broke last year and implicated dozens of Brazilian politicians and executives has wiped tens of billions off Petrobras share price, with Brazil s biggest state-owned corporation losing around two thirds of its value.
But Wednesday s announcement sent it rocketing 6.2 percent in mid-afternoon trading in Sao Paulo, before closing up 4.83 percent on the day at 10.20 reais ($3.30).
The scandal has seen Petrobras unsecured debt rating drop into junk territory amid downward spiraling profits and a delayed external audit of last year s results.
As a result the company, once considered Brazil s most prestigious, is looking further afield to aid its cash flow as debts pile up.
On Monday, the firm announced its Argentine division had sold $101 million of onshore exploration and production concessions as part of a previously unveiled divestment plan to raise some $14 billion.
Petrobras said the CDB contract was signed in China during a visit by chief financial officer Ivan Monteiro, as part of a contract to be implemented through this year and next.
Petrobras, headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, said in a regulatory filing that it and the CDB "confirmed their intention to undertake further cooperation in the near future" as part of a strategy to "strengthen synergies between the economies of the two countries."
Petrobras, which has also been hard-hit by falling oil prices, did not comment on any financial conditions attached to the deal or whether it was conditional on purchase of any Chinese equipment.
