SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

 

FORM 6-K

 

Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

For the month of November, 2017

 

Commission File Number 1-15106

 

 

 

PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S.A. - PETROBRAS

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Brazilian Petroleum Corporation - PETROBRAS

(Translation of Registrant's name into English)

Avenida República do Chile, 65 

20031-912 - Rio de Janeiro, RJ

Federative Republic of Brazil

(Address of principal executive office)

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F. 

 

Form 20-F ___X___ Form 40-F _______

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

Yes _______ No___X____

 

 

 

 

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INTERIM FINANCIAL

STATEMENTS

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September 30, 2017and 2016 with

report of independent registered public

accounting firm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

 

The Shareholders and Board of Directors of

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras

 

We have reviewed the interim consolidated statement of financial position of Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of September 30, 2017, and the related interim consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income for the three and nine months periods ended September 30, 2017, and the related interim consolidated statements of changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017. These interim consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management.

 

We conducted our review in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). A review of interim financial information consists principally of applying analytical procedures and making inquiries of persons responsible for financial and accounting matters. It is substantially less in scope than an audit conducted in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the objective of which is the expression of an opinion regarding the financial statements taken as a whole. Accordingly, we do not express such an opinion.

 

Based on our review, we are not aware of any material modifications that should be made to the interim consolidated financial statements referred to above for them to be in conformity with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB).

 

We draw attention to Note 3 of the interim consolidated financial statements, which describes that: i) no additional information has been identified through this date which could materially impact the estimation methodology adopted for the write off recorded on September 30, 2014; and ii) the internal investigations being conducted by outside legal counsel under the supervision of a Special Committee created by the Company and the investigation conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission are still on going, nevertheless to date no additional impact to those already disclosed in the interim financial statements has been identified. We also draw attention to Note 29.4 of the interim consolidated financial statements which describes class actions filed against the Company, for which it is unable to make a reliable estimate of loss.

 

The consolidated financial statements of the Company as of and for the year ended December 31, 2016, were audited by other accountants whose report dated March 21, 2017, expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements. Such consolidated financial statements were not audited by us and, accordingly, we do not express an opinion or any form of assurance on the information set forth in the accompanying consolidated statement of financial position as of December 31, 2016. Additionally, the interim consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income for the three and nine months periods ended September 30, 2016, and the related interim consolidated statements of changes in shareholders’ equity and cash flows for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016, were not reviewed or audited by us, and accordingly, we do not express an opinion or any form of assurance on them.

 

 

Rio de Janeiro, November 13, 2017

 

 

 

/s/

KPMG Auditores Independentes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras is a company controlled by the Brazilian government dedicated, directly or through its subsidiaries (referred to jointly as “Petrobras”, “the Company”, or “Petrobras Group”), either independently or through joint ventures or similar arrangements with third parties, to prospecting, drilling, refining, processing, trading and transporting crude oil from producing onshore and offshore oil fields and from shale or other rocks, as well as oil products, natural gas and other liquid hydrocarbons. In addition, Petrobras carries out energy related activities, such as research, development, production, transport, distribution and trading of all forms of energy, as well as other related or similar activities. The Company’s head office is located in Rio de Janeiro – RJ, Brazil.

 

These unaudited consolidated interim financial statements have been prepared and presented in accordance with IAS 34 – “Interim Financial Reporting” as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB). The information is presented in U.S. dollars.

These unaudited interim financial statements present the significant changes in the period, avoiding repetition of certain notes to the financial statements previously reported. Hence it should be read together with the Company’s audited annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016, which include the full set of notes.

Petrobras has selected the U.S. Dollar as its presentation currency to facilitate a more direct comparison to other oil and gas companies. The financial statements have been translated from the functional currency (Brazilian Real) into the presentation currency (U.S. Dollar). All assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars at the closing exchange rate at the date of the financial statements; income and expenses, as well as cash flows are translated into U.S. dollars using the average exchange rates prevailing during the period. All exchange differences arising from the translation of the consolidated financial statements from the functional currency into the presentation currency are recognized as cumulative translation adjustments (CTA) within accumulated other comprehensive income in the consolidated statements of changes in shareholders’ equity.

 

 

The Company’s Board of Directors in a meeting held on November 13, 2017 authorized the issuance of this consolidated interim financial statements.

The preparation of interim financial statements requires the use of estimates and assumptions for certain assets, liabilities and other transactions. These estimates and assumptions include: oil and gas reserves and their impacts to other parts of the financial statements, the main assumptions and cash-generating units identified for impairment testing of assets, pension and medical benefits liabilities, provisions for legal proceedings, dismantling of areas and environmental remediation, deferred income taxes, cash flow hedge accounting and allowance for impairment of trade receivables. Although our management uses assumptions and judgments that are periodically reviewed, the actual results could differ from these estimates.

For further information on accounting estimates, see note 5 to the Company’s annual financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

In the third quarter of 2014, the Company wrote off US$ 2,527 of capitalized costs representing estimated amounts that Petrobras overpaid for the acquisition of property, plant and equipment in prior years. For further information see note 3 to the Company’s December 31, 2016 audited consolidated financial statements.

In preparing its interim financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2017, the Company considered all available information and did not identify any additional information in the investigations related to the “Lava Jato (Car Wash) investigation” by the Brazilian authorities or by the independent law firms conducting an internal investigation that could materially impact or change the methodology adopted to recognize the write-off taken in the third quarter of 2014. The Company continues to monitor the investigations for additional information and will review their potential impacts on the adjustment made.

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

To the extent that any of the proceedings resulting from the Lava Jato investigation involve new leniency agreements with companies or plea agreements with individuals pursuant to which they agree to return funds, Petrobras may be entitled to receive a portion of such funds and will recognize them as other income and expenses when received. Nevertheless, the Company is unable to reliably estimate further recoverable amounts at this moment. Any recoverable amount will be recognized as income when received or when their economic benefits become virtually certain.

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company recognized US$ 48 as other income and expenses (US$ 69 in the same period in 2016) with respect to compensation for damages resulting from a leniency agreement. Of this amount, US$ 23 was received during this period and the remaining US$ 25 was recognized as accounts receivable at September 30, 2017 and collected in October 2017. The total funds returned through December 31, 2016, amounted to US$ 203 (US$ 131 in 2016 and US$ 72 in 2015).

We have been formally recognized as a victim of the crimes identified under the Lava Jato investigation by the Brazilian Federal Prosecutor’s Office, the lower court hearing the case and by the Brazilian Supreme Court. As a result, we have joined 41 criminal proceedings as an assistant to the prosecutor. In addition, we have entered into four criminal proceedings as an interested party. We have also renewed our commitment to continue cooperating with authorities to clarify the issues and report them regularly to our investors and to the public in general.

 

The consolidated interim financial statements include the interim financial statements of Petrobras, its subsidiaries, its assets and liabilities within joint operations and consolidated structured entities.

There were no significant changes in the Company’s basis of consolidation of entities in the period ended September 30, 2017 when compared to December 31, 2016, except for the disposal of the subsidiary Nova Transportadora do Sudeste - NTS, on April 4, 2017, as set out in note 9.

The same accounting policies and methods of computation were followed in these consolidated interim financial statements as those followed in the preparation of the annual financial statements of the Company for the year ended December 31, 2016.

Formal Notice from CVM – Hedge accounting

Since mid-May 2013, the Company has designated cash flow hedging relationships, in which (a) the hedged items are portions of our highly probable future monthly export revenues in U.S. dollars, (b) the hedging instruments are portions of our long term debt obligations denominated in U.S. dollars, and (c) the risk hedged is the effect of changes in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and the functional currency, the real. For more information, see note 31.2 to the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016.

On March 7, 2017, the Company received a formal notice from the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (Comissão de Valores Mobiliários – CVM) requesting that the Company restate its annual and interim financial statements since the second quarter of 2013. This notice requested that the Company restate the effects of the hedge accounting policy application relating to the cash flow hedge involving the Company’s future exports. The Company appealed the CVM decision and reaffirmed its view that its accounting policy has been correctly applied.

In July 2017, the CVM’s collegiate body accepted the Company’s appeal and dismissed the formal notice, which reinforced the correct application of the accounting policy by the Company.

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

Cash and cash equivalents

 

 

Short-term financial investments in Brazil primarily consist of investments in funds holding Brazilian Federal Government Bonds that mature within three months as of the date of their acquisition. Short-term financial investments abroad comprise time deposits that mature in three months or less from the date of their acquisition, highly-liquid automatic investment accounts, interest checking accounts and other short-term fixed income instruments.

 

Marketable securities

 

 

Trading securities refer mainly to investments in Brazilian Federal Government Bonds. These financial investments have maturities of more than three months and are mostly classified as current assets due to their maturity or the expectation of their realization in the short term.

Available-for-sale securities in Brazil refer substantially to São Martinho’s common shares granted to the wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Biocombustível S.A. - PBIO (24 million shares) as consideration for PBIO’s shares in Nova Fronteira. For further information on this transaction see note 9.3. Available-for-sale securities abroad refer to UK government bonds amounting to GBP 475 million and maturing in March 2018.

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On May, 22 2017, the Company terminated a finance lease agreement relating to the Vitória 10,000 drilling rig, owned by the indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Drill Ship International BV – DSI BV and leased to the Deep Black Drilling LLP – DBD, an entity from Schahin group. On July 19, 2017, a court ruling confirmed this contract termination and, shortly after, Schahin filed a request to suspend its effects, which was denied by the court on July 28, 2017.

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

Due to the finance lease agreement termination, the Company assessed the value in use of the drilling rig based on the cash flows projected to arise from its commitment to certain Petrobras Group projects, and compared it to the carrying amount of the finance lease receivable at June 30, 2017. As result, the Company wrote-down US$ 254 as other income and expenses in the second quarter of 2017.

In addition, on August 9, 2017, measures were adopted to obtain possession of this drilling rig, which effectively occurred on August 16, 2017. As a result of this matter, in the third quarter of 2017 the Company added US$ 24 to the allowance for impairment due to additions to the finance lease receivable and contractual fine, as well as derecognized the finance lease receivable and recognized the drilling rig as equipment within Property, plant and equipment in the amount of US$ 387.

 

 

The Company supplies fuel oil, natural gas, and other products to entities that operate in the state of Manaus and in the isolated electricity system in the northern region of Brazil, such as thermoelectric power plants controlled by Eletrobras, state-owned natural gas distribution companies and independent electricity producers (Produtores Independentes de Energia – PIE). The isolated electricity system provides the public service of electricity distribution in the northern region of Brazil, as the Brazilian National Interconnected Power Grid (Sistema Interligado Nacional) has not yet met the demand for electricity due to technical or economic reasons.

A significant portion of the funds used by those companies to pay for products supplied by the Company came from the Fuel Consumption Account (Conta de Consumo de Combustível – CCC), which provides funds to cover a portion of the costs related to the supply of fuel to thermoelectric power plants located in the northern region of Brazil (operating in the isolated electricity system). However, as a result of changes in the CCC regulations over time, principally relating to Provisional Measure 579/2012 which significantly changed the sources of funds that were used to cover the cost of electricity generated in the Isolated Electricity System, funds transferred from the CCC to these electricity companies have not been sufficient for them to meet their financial obligations and, as a result, some have not been able to pay the total amount for the products supplied by the Company, increasing the default rate of those customers to the Company, notably from AME.

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

The Company intensified negotiations with the state-owned natural gas distribution companies, the independent electricity producers (PIEs), other private companies and entities controlled by Eletrobras. As a result, on December 31, 2014, the Company entered into a debt acknowledgement agreement with subsidiaries of Eletrobras with respect to the balance of its receivables as of November 30, 2014. Eletrobras acknowledged it owed US$ 2,202 to the Company, of which US$ 1,889 were collateralized by payables from the Brazilian Energy Development Account (Conta de Desenvolvimento Energético ‐ CDE) to the CCC. This amount has been adjusted by the Selic interest rate (Brazilian short-term interest rate) on a monthly basis and the first of 120 monthly installments was paid in February 2015.

The contractual amortization clauses in the debt acknowledgement agreement establish the payment of 15% of the amount of renegotiated debt within 36 months and the remaining 85% to be paid in 84 installments beginning in January 2018. Therefore, the Company expects the balance of trade receivables from the electricity sector will decrease from 2018 onwards as the amounts to be received will be higher than inflation indexation on debt acknowledgement agreements. Despite some periodic delays, these payments have continued.

In order to mitigate an increase in default rates, on September 1, 2015 the Brazilian National Electricity Agency (Agência Nacional de Energia Elétrica - ANEEL) enacted the Normative Instruction 679 enabling the Company to receive funds directly from the CCC, as these funds would be paid directly from the CCC for products supplied in the prior month with a limit of 75% of the average payments made by the CCC in the previous three months.

The Company had expected that the abovementioned rule would have strengthened the financial situation of the companies in the electricity sector. However, this had not occurred and the level of these defaults had increased. Accordingly, in 2015 and 2016 the Company recognized US$ 564 and US$ 345, respectively, as allowance for impairment of trade receivables (net of reversals) with respect to uncollateralized outstanding receivables.

Accordingly, the Company has adopted the following measures:

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company accounted for allowances for impairment of trade receivables, net of reversals, totaling US$ 94 (US$ 338 in the same period of 2016) primarily due to unsecure overdue receivables related to supplies of fuel oil and natural gas, partially offset by overdue receivables paid by CELPA - Centrais Elétricas do Pará.

 

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The amount of inventories is presented net of US$ 2 reducing inventories to net realizable value (US$ 28 as of December 31, 2016), primarily due to changes in international prices of crude oil and oil products. In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company recognized as cost of sales US$ 68 reducing inventories to net realizable value, net of reversals (US$ 305 in the same period of 2016).

At September 30, 2017, the Company had pledged crude oil and oil products volumes as collateral for the Terms of Financial Commitment (TFC) signed by Petrobras and Petros in 2008, in the amount of US$ 3,817 (US$ 1,979 as of December 31, 2016), as set out in note 21. In the third quarter of 2017, the amount of collateral was revised and updated in order to reflect the increase in the commitments undertaken under TCF.

 

The Company has an effective divestment and venture program which takes into account opportunities for divestments in several areas where it operates. The divestment portfolio is dynamic, meaning that market conditions, legal matters and negotiations may affect the Company’s evaluation of ongoing and potential transactions.

On December 7, 2016, the Brazilian Federal Auditor’s Office (Tribunal de Contas da União – TCU) filed a civil action prohibiting the Company from commencing additional divestment projects and entering into sales agreements, except for transactions in their final stages at that time. After the TCU’s assessment of the divestments decision-making methodology and the Company’s review of its divestment policies, the TCU’s civil action was dismissed, allowing the progress of the divestment and venture program to continue based on the revised methodology.

Accordingly, the Company’s Executive Board approved the new divestment portfolio on March 30, 2017, consisting of projects that follow the revised divestment methodology in compliance with the TCU’s decision.

Disposal of distribution assets in Chile

On July 22, 2016, the Company signed a sale and purchase agreement with the Southern Cross Group for the sale of 100% of Petrobras Chile Distribución Ltda (PCD), a group entity from the distribution business segment, held through Petrobras Caribe Ltda.

This transaction was concluded on January 4, 2017 and the net proceeds from this sale were US$ 470, of which US$ 90 was received via distribution of dividends after taxes on December 9, 2016 and the remaining US$ 380 was paid by Southern Cross Group at the transaction closing. Accordingly, the Company recognized a gain of US$ 0.8 as other income and expenses, in the first quarter of 2017, taking into account the impairment of US$ 82 at December 31, 2016.

In addition, a US$ 79 loss was recycled from shareholders’ equity to other income and expenses within the income statement, reflecting the reclassification of cumulative translation adjustments resulting from the depreciation of the Chilean Peso against the U.S Dollar from the time of the acquisition of this investment to its disposal (see note 22.2).

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

Disposal of interest in Nova Transportadora do Sudeste (NTS) and related changes in organizational structure

After a corporate restructuring intended to concentrate the transportation assets of the southeastern region in Nova Transportadora do Sudeste -NTS, a group entity from the gas and power business segment, the Company’s Board of Directors approved on September 22, 2016 the sale of a 90% interest in NTS to Brookfield Infrastructure Partners (BIP) and its affiliates, through a Private Equity Investment Fund (FIP) whose other shareholders are British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCIMC), CIC Capital Corporation (wholly-owned subsidiary of China Investment Corporation - CIC) and GIC Private Limited (GIC).

The following changes in organizational structure occurred as part of this process:

This transaction prescribes the maintenance of charge capacity and also the same terms of five Firm Gas Transportation Agreements including 100% ship-or-pay clauses. These agreements have terms of 20 years from 2016 and their rates are indexed to the Brazilian General Market Price Index (IGP-M) and regulated by the ANP.

On April 4, 2017, after performing all conditions precedent and adjustments provided for in the purchase and sale agreement, this transaction was completed in the amount of US$ 5.08 billion upon the payment of US$ 4.23 billion on this date, of which US$ 2.59 billion relates to the sale of shares, US$ 100 relates to an escrow account pledged as collateral for charges associated with the repair of pipelines, and US$ 1.64 billion relates to the issuance of convertible debentures by NTS, maturing in 10 years, as a replacement of the debt to PGT. The remaining balance (US$ 850, also relating to the sale of shares) will be paid in the fifth year, bearing annual interests at a fixed rate, as established in the purchase and sale agreement.

At June 30, 2017, the Company recognized a gain on this transaction in the amount of US$ 2,169 accounted for as other income and expenses, which includes a US$ 217 gain on remeasurement of retained interests. This amount was subject to price adjustments according to the purchase and sale agreement.

On October 10, 2017, the final price adjustment was settled in the amount of US$ 20, totaling a gain of US$ 2,189 on this transaction.

Disposal of Guarani

On December 28, 2016, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary from the biofuels business segment - Petrobras Biocombustível S.A. (PBIO) disposed of its interests in the associate Guarani S.A. (45.97% of share capital) to Tereos Participations SAS, an entity of the French group Tereos.

On February 3, 2017, this transaction was concluded pursuant to the payment of US$ 203, after all conditions precedent were performed by Tereos Participations SAS. At December 31, 2016, an impairment loss amounting to US$ 118 was accounted for.

Additionally, a gain of US$ 42 was recycled from shareholders’ equity to other income and expenses within the income statement, reflecting the reclassification of cumulative translation adjustment resulting from the appreciation of Mozambican Metical against the Brazilian Real from the acquisition of this investment to its disposal (see note 22.2). This gain was partially offset by a US$ 22 loss also recycled from shareholders’ equity to other income and expenses reflecting cumulative losses relating to cash flow hedge accounting.

Disposal of Liquigás

On November 17, 2016 the Company’s Board of Directors approved the disposal of its wholly-owned subsidiary Liquigás Distribuidora S.A, a group entity from the RT&M business segment (Refining, Transportation and Marketing), to Companhia Ultragaz S.A., a subsidiary of Ultrapar Participações S.A.. Accordingly, the related assets and liabilities were classified as held for sale at December 31, 2016, as this transaction was subject to approval at Ultrapar’s and Petrobras’ Shareholders’ Meetings, as well as the approval of CADE.

In January 2017, this sale was approved at Ultrapar’s and Petrobras’ Shareholders’ Meetings in the amount of US$ 828.

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

According to an official statement released by the Brazilian Antitrust Regulator (CADE) in June 2017, additional diligence was required in order to conclude on market concentration aspects of this sale. In August 2017, the CADE reported some concerns about market concentration that may result from this transaction. However, the CADE’s conclusion is still under assessment and additional procedures may be necessary.

The Company has performed a regular assessment on the progress of CADE’s evaluations on this transaction and no new factors that could change the commitment to its plan to sell Liquigás have been identified. Based on this assessment and other pending conditions precedent to the transaction, including the aforementioned approval by CADE, the related assets and liabilities remained classified as held for sale as of September 30, 2017.

Disposal of Suape and Citepe petrochemical plants

On December 28, 2016, the Company’s Board of Directors approved the disposal of the interests in the wholly-owned subsidiaries Companhia Petroquímica de Pernambuco (PetroquímicaSuape) and Companhia Integrada Têxtil de Pernambuco (Citepe), both from the RT&M business segment, to Grupo Petrotemex S.A. de C.V. and Dak Americas Exterior, S.L., both subsidiaries of Alpek, S.A.B. de C.V., which is a company from Grupo Alfa S.A.B. de C.V. (a Mexican public company), in the amount of US$ 385, which will be totally disbursed at the transaction closing. This amount remains subject to adjustments relating to working capital, net debt and recoverable taxes.

On February 21, 2017, the transaction was approved at the Grupo Alfa’s Board of Directors Meeting and, on March 27, 2017, at Petrobras’ Shareholders’ Meeting.

According to an official statement released by the Brazilian Antitrust Regulator (CADE) on October 10, 2017, additional diligence was required in order to conclude on market concentration aspects of this sale.

The Company has performed a regular assessment on the progress of CADE’s evaluations on this transaction and no new factors that could change the commitment to its plan to sell these petrochemical plants were identified. Based on this assessment and other pending conditions precedent to the transaction, including the aforementioned approval by CADE, the related assets and liabilities remained classified as held for sale as of September 30, 2017.

Strategic alliance with Total

On December 21, 2016, the Company entered into a master agreement with Total, in connection with the Strategic Alliance established in the Memorandum of Understanding signed on October 24, 2016. Accordingly, certain E&P assets were classified as held for sale at December 31, 2016 due to the share of interests established in this agreement, as described below:

On February 28, 2017, the Company and Total signed purchase and sale agreements with respect to the aforementioned assets. Total will pay to the Company the amount of US$ 1,675 in cash for assets and services, as well as contingent payments in the amount of US$ 150, associated with the production volume in Iara field. In addition, a long-term line of credit in the amount of US$ 400 will be provided by Total, which may be used to fund the Company’s investments in the Iara fields.

The aforementioned agreements adds up to the ones already executed on December 21, 2016, such as: (i) the option for Petrobras to purchase a 20% interest in block 2 of the Perdido Foldbelt area, in the Mexican sector of the Gulf of Mexico, (ii) the joint exploration studies in the exploratory areas of Equatorial Margin and in Santos Basin; and (iii) the Technological partnership agreement in the areas of digital petrophysics, geological processing and subsea production systems.

These transactions are still subject to approval by the relevant authorities, the potential exercise of preemptive rights by current Iara partners, and other customary conditions precedent.

The Company has performed a regular assessment on the progress of conditions precedent to the transaction and no new factors that could change the commitment to its plan to sell these assets were identified. Accordingly, the related assets and liabilities remained classified as held for sale as of September 30, 2017.

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

The major classes of assets and liabilities classified as held for sale are shown in the following table:

 

 

Sale and merger of Nova Fronteira Bioenergia

On December 15, 2016, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary PBIO (biofuels business segment) entered into an agreement with the São Martinho group to merge PBIO’s interests in Nova Fronteira Bioenergia S.A. (49%) into São Martinho.

On February 23, 2017, this transaction was concluded as São Martinho granted to PBIO an additional 24 million of its common shares, corresponding to 6.593% of its voting and total paid in capital, in exchange and in proportion to the shares that PBIOs held in Nova Fronteira. These shares are accounted for as available – for- sale securities, as set out in note 6.

Corporate restructuring in Petrobras Distribuidora (BR)

On July 11, 2017, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an initial public offering (IPO) of its wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Distribuidora (BR), which will be effected through a secondary public offering of shares. Accordingly, the corporate restructuring of BR was approved in August 2017 through the following transactions:

 

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The market value of these shares does not necessarily reflect the realizable value upon sale of a large block of shares.

Investment in publicly traded associate (Braskem S.A.)

Braskem’s shares are publicly traded on stock exchanges in Brazil and abroad. As of September 30, 2017, the quoted market value of the Company’s investment in Braskem was US$ 3,885 based on the quoted values of both Petrobras’ interest in Braskem’s common stock (47% of the outstanding shares), and preferred stock (22% of the outstanding shares). However, there is extremely limited trading of the common shares, since non-signatories of the shareholders’ agreement hold only approximately 3% of the common shares.

Given the operational relationship between Petrobras and Braskem, at December 31, 2016, the recoverable amount of the investment for impairment testing purposes was determined based on its value in use, considering future cash flow projections and the manner in which the Company can derive value from this investment via dividends and other distributions to arrive at its value in use. As the recoverable amount was higher than the carrying amount, no impairment losses were recognized for this investment.

The main assumptions on which cash flow projections were based to determine Braskem’s value in use are set out in note 14 to the Company’s audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016.

 

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

In addition to the capital commitments previously reported and in line with the investments foreseen in the Strategic Plan and the 2017-2021 Business and Management Plan, in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company entered into agreements for the acquisition and construction of property, plant and equipment, especially the contract for the conclusion of the hull conversion of FPSO P-76, in the amount of US$ 497, and the contract for the supply of flexible pipelines for the production, gas lifting and water injection in many pre-salt projects, in the total amount of US$ 595, expiring in March 2018 and May 2022, respectively.

As of September 30, 2017, property, plant and equipment include assets under finance leases of US$ 124 (US$ 125 as of December 31, 2016).

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

Petrobras and the Brazilian Federal Government entered into the Assignment Agreement in 2010, which grants the Company the right to carry out prospecting and drilling activities for oil, natural gas and other liquid hydrocarbons located in the pre-salt area, subject to a maximum production of five billion barrels of oil equivalent. The agreement has a term of forty years and is renewable for a further five years subject to certain conditions. As of September 30, 2017, the Company’s property, plant and equipment include the amount of US$ 23,614 related to the Assignment Agreement (US$ 22,954 as of December 31, 2016).

The agreement establishes that its review procedures will commence immediately after the declaration of commerciality for each area and must be based on reports by independent experts engaged by Petrobras and the ANP. The review of the Assignment Agreement, which will determine if the value of acquired rights is greater or lower than the amount initially paid by the Company, will be concluded after the assessment of all the areas.

Petrobras has already declared commerciality in fields of all six blocks under this agreement: Franco (Búzios), Florim (Itapu), Nordeste de Tupi (Sépia), Entorno de Iara (Norte de Berbigão, Sul de Berbigão, Norte de Sururu, Sul de Sururu, Atapu), Sul de Guará (Sul de Sapinhoá) and Sul de Tupi (Sul de Lula).

If the review of the Assignment Agreement determines that the value of acquired rights is greater than the amount initially paid, the Company may be required to pay the difference to the Brazilian Federal Government, or may proportionally reduce the total volume of barrels acquired under the agreement in order to match with the amount originally paid. If the review determines that the value of the acquired rights is lower than initially paid by the Company, the Brazilian Federal Government will reimburse the Company for the difference by delivering cash or bonds or equivalent means of payment, subject to budgetary regulations.

The formal review procedures for each block are based on costs incurred over the exploration phase, and estimated costs and production for the development period. The review of the Assignment Agreement may result in renegotiation in: (i) the amount of the agreement; (ii) the total volume (in barrels of oil) to be produced; (iii) the term of the agreement; and (iv) the minimum percentages of local content.

The information gathered after drilling over 50 exploratory wells and performing extended well tests in this area, as well as the extensive knowledge acquired on the pre-salt layer of Santos Basin, made possible the identification of volumes exceeding five million barrels of oil equivalent.

The Company considers this surplus provides an opportunity to enter into an agreement concerning the compensation to the Company arising from this review. Therefore, aiming to support an eventual negotiation where this compensation would be paid through the right over exceeding volume, the Company is complementing its assessment based on reports issued by its independent experts engaged.

Currently, the final amount to be established for this agreement is not defined. The beginning of negotiation with the Brazilian Federal Government, which is expected to occur in the fourth quarter of 2017, still depends on the conclusion of the appraisals by independent experts engaged by both parties and the issuance of the respective reports.

The Minority Shareholders Committee, created on October 21, 2016, will monitor this agreement review process and will provide support to the board’s decisions through opinions about related matters.

 

22

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

On September 27, 2017, the Company acquired seven blocks in the fourteenth round of bids under the shared production regime, held by the ANP, six of which are offshore and one is onshore. The Company will be the operator in all blocks. In the offshore blocks, Petrobras will hold a 50% interest in partnership with ExxonMobil. In the onshore blocks, the Company will hold the entire interest.

In the fourth quarter of 2017, the Company will pay the total amount of US$ 567 with respect to the signature bonus for obtaining concessions for exploration of these blocks.

23

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

The Company’s assets are tested for impairment annually, or whenever there is an indication that their carrying amount may not be recoverable.

Jan-Sep 2017

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company recognized impairment losses (net of reversals) amounting to US$ 110, mainly reflecting:

a) Araucaria Nitrogenados - write down to the recoverable amount of assets relating to the wholly-owned subsidiary Araucaria Nitrogenados S.A. Indications of impairment were identified during this period, such as lower sales volume and prices, as well as higher production costs. Therefore, the Company assessed the related assets for impairment and, as a result, an impairment charge of US$ 70 was recognized primarily in the second quarter of 2017. The determination of value in use was based on cash flow projections reflecting financial budget and forecasts approved by the management and a post-tax real discount rate of 6.6% p.a. (7.8% p.a. in 2016) derived for the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) for the fertilizer business;

b) COMPERJ - impairment losses of US$ 40 were recognized during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017 for work in progress relating to the infrastructure shared by COMPERJ’s first refining unit and the natural gas processing plant (UPGN) necessary for the transport and processing of natural gas from the pre-salt layer of the Santos Basin.

Jan-Sep 2016

During September 2016, indications of impairment were identified for certain assets, which triggered their impairment assessment due to changes mainly driven by a slower recovery of oil prices, a decrease in future capital expenditures, reflecting the Company’s plan to reduce current debt levels and optimize its investment portfolio, as well as changes in the Brazilian political and economic landscape.

These changes impacted the medium and long term assumptions used in the Company’s Business and Management Plan finalized and approved in the third quarter of 2016, also impacting the key assumptions for impairment testing. Changes in the political and economic landscape in Brazil also resulted in increases in discount rates applied for impairment testing purposes at September 30, 2016.

Impairment losses, net of reversals, totaled US$ 5,122 in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016 as shown below:

24

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

For additional information about the main impairment losses on property, plant and equipment, intangible assets and assets classified as held for sale for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016, see note 13 of the interim financial statements for September 30, 2016.

 

The exploration and evaluation activities include the search for oil and gas reserves from obtaining the legal rights to explore a specific area to the declaration of the technical and commercial viability of the reserves.

Changes in the balances of capitalized costs directly associated with exploratory wells pending determination of proved reserves and the balance of amounts paid for obtaining rights and concessions for exploration of oil and natural gas (capitalized acquisition costs) are set out in the following table:

25

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

Exploration costs recognized in the statement of income and cash used in oil and gas exploration and evaluation activities are set out in the following table:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Company obtains funding through debt financing for capital expenditures to develop crude oil and natural gas producing properties, construct vessels and pipelines, construct and expand industrial plants, among other uses.

The Company has covenants that were not in default at September, 30 2017 in its loan agreements and notes issued in the capital markets requiring, among other obligations, the presentation of interim financial statements within 90 days of the end of each quarter (not reviewed by Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm) and audited financial statements within 120 days of the end of each fiscal year. Non-compliance with these obligations do not represent immediate events of default and the grace period in which the Company has to deliver these financial statements ranges from 30 to 60 days, depending on the agreement. The Company also has covenants with respect to debt level in some of its loan agreements with the Brazilian Development Bank (Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social - BNDES).

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, proceeds from financing amounted to US$ 22,644, principally reflecting: (i) global notes issued in the capital market in the amount of US$ 10,256 and maturing in 2022, 2025, 2027, 2028 and 2044; (ii) debentures issued in the domestic market amounting to US$ 1,577 and maturing in 2022 and 2024; and (iii) funds raised from the domestic and international banking market in the amount of US$ 8,682 with average term of five years.

26

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

In addition, the Company used US$ 34,033 for repayment of principal and interest, mainly attributable to: (i) US$ 7,569 relating to repurchase of global bonds previously issued by the Company in the capital market maturing from 2018 to 2021 (ii) pre-payment of banking loans in the domestic and international market totaling US$ 12,488; and (iii) pre-payment of US$ 1,567 with respect to financings with BNDES.

During this period, the Company also rolled over some debts through non-cash transactions, including: (i) exchange of US$ 6,768 old notes previously issued in the international capital market, maturing from 2019 to 2021, to new notes with maturities in 2025 and 2028 in the amount of US$ 7,597; (ii) exchange of some debts in the international banking market maturing from 2018 to 2020, to new similar financings amounting to US$ 1,750 with maturities ranging from 2020 to 2022.

27

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

A roll-forward schedule of non-current debt is set out as follows:

 

 

28

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

The fair value of the Company's finance debts is mainly determined and categorized into a fair value hierarchy as follows:

Level 1- quoted prices in active markets for identical liabilities, when applicable, amounting to US$ 53,885 as of September 30, 2017 (US$ 46,510 as of December 31, 2016); and

Level 2 – discounted cash flows based on discount rate determined by interpolating spot rates considering financing debts indexes proxies, taking into account their currencies and also the Petrobras’ credit risk, amounting to US$ 65,350 as of September 30, 2017 (US$ 72,258 as of December 31, 2016).

The sensitivity analysis for financial instruments subject to foreign exchange variation is set out in note 31.2.

 

29

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

The capitalization rate used to determine the amount of borrowing costs eligible for capitalization was the weighted average of the borrowing costs applicable to the borrowings that were outstanding during the period, other than borrowings made specifically for the purpose of obtaining a qualifying asset. In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the capitalization rate was 6.15% p.a. (5.67% p.a. in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016).

 

 

Most of the Company’s debt is unsecured, but certain specific funding instruments to promote economic development are collateralized. In addition, financing agreements with China Development Bank (CDB) maturing in 2019 and 2026 are also collateralized based on future oil exports for specific buyers limited to 300 thousand barrels per day up to 2019 and 200 thousand barrels per day from 2020 to 2026. This collateral may not exceed the amount of the related debt.

The loans obtained by structured entities are collateralized based on the projects’ assets, as well as liens on receivables of the structured entities. Bonds issued by the Company in the capital market are unsecured.

The global notes issued by the Company in the capital market through its wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Global Finance B.V. – PGF are unsecured. However, Petrobras fully, unconditionally and irrevocably guarantees these notes, as set out in note 34.

 

30

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

Operating leases mainly include oil and gas production units, drilling rigs and other exploration and production equipment, vessels and support vessels, helicopters, land and building leases.

 

 

As of September 30, 2017, the balance of estimated future minimum lease payments under operating leases includes US$ 55,548 (US$ 49,671 as of December 31, 2016) with respect to assets under construction, for which the lease term has not commenced.

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company recognized expenditures of US$ 7,495 (US$ 7,222 in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016) for operating leases installments.

31

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

The Company has a related-party transactions policy, which is applicable to all the Petrobras Group, in accordance with the Company’s by-laws.

In order to ensure the goals of the Company and align them with transparency of processes and corporate governance best practices, this policy provides for assumptions to guide Petrobras and its workforce while entering into related-party transactions and dealing with potential conflicts of interest on these transactions, such as: (i) related-party transactions must be executed on an arm’s length basis; (ii) must be completely and accurately presented in the Company’s reports, in accordance with applicable rules and; (iii) the Audit Committee must assess in advance transactions between the Company and its associates, the Brazilian Federal Government (including its agencies or similar bodies and controlled entities), as well as transactions with entities controlled by key management personnel or by their close family members, with monthly reporting of these assessments to the Board of Directors.

Transactions with the Brazilian Federal Government, including its agencies or similar bodies and controlled entities, which are under the scope of Board of Directors approval, must be preceded by the Audit Committee, Finance Committee and Minority Shareholders Committee assessment and must have prior approval of, at least, 2/3 of the board members.

The related-party transactions policy also aims to ensure an adequate and diligent decision-making process for the Company’s key management.

The Company has engaged, and expects to continue to engage, in the ordinary course of business in numerous transactions with joint ventures, associates, pension plans, as well as with the Company’s controlling shareholder, the Brazilian federal government, which includes transactions with banks and other entities under its control, such as financing and banking, asset management and others.

The balances of significant transactions are set out in the following table:

32

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

In addition to the aforementioned transactions, Petrobras and the Brazilian Federal Government entered into the Assignment Agreement in 2010, which grants the Company the right to carry out prospecting and drilling activities for hydrocarbons located in the pre-salt area limited to the production of five billion barrels of oil equivalent.

For detailed information on Assignment Agreement, see note 11.2.

The total compensation of Executive Officers and Board Members of Petrobras parent company is set out as follows:

 

 

33

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company recognized the amount of US$ 18 as compensation of the Board Members and executive officers of the Petrobras group (US$ 15.6 in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016).

The compensation of the Advisory Committees to the Board of Directors is apart from the fixed compensation set for the Board Members and, therefore, has not been classified under compensation of Petrobras’ key management personnel.

In accordance with Brazilian regulation applicable to companies controlled by the Brazilian Government, Board members who are also members of the Audit Committee are only compensated in respect of the Audit Committee. The total compensation concerning these members totaled US$ 63 thousand in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017 (US$ 76 thousand with social security and related charges).

The general meeting, held on April 27, 2017, fixed monthly compensation of Audit Committee members to 10% of monthly average executive officers’ compensation, excluding certain social security benefits and paid vacation.

 

 

 

The estimates for abandonment and dismantling of oil and natural gas producing properties are revised annually at December 31 along with the annual process of oil and gas reserves certification and whenever an indication of significant change in the assumptions used in the estimates occurs.

34

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

35

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

In 2017, the Company joined the Tax Settlement Program (Programa de Regularização Tributária - PRT), Non-Tax Debts Settlement Program (Programa de Regularização de Débitos não Tributários - PRD) and the Special Tax Settlement Program (Programa Especial de Regularização Tributária - PERT). These programs were created under Provisional Measures 766, 780 and 783 in 2017, respectively, and enabled the settlement of certain legal proceedings  involving Brazilian Federal Tax Authorities, Brazilian Federal Agencies and similar bodies,  along with certain benefits, such as the use of tax loss carry forwards and reduction on interests, penalties and related charges. These disputes amounted to US$ 3,045 that, following the relief provided for by these programs, was reduced to US$ 2,171.

The balances of respective liabilities carried on the statement of financial position as of September 30, 2017 are shown below:

 

 

The PRT enabled reliefs to settle tax and non-tax debts overdue up to November 30, 2016 to the Brazilian Federal Tax Authorities (Brazilian Federal Revenue Service and National Treasury Attorney's Office).

The Company joined the program to settle, principally, proceedings at administrative level totaling US$ 502, for which outflow of resources were probable, related to disallowed tax credits applied for income taxes and other Brazilian Federal taxes computation.

After assessing the reliefs provided by the PRT, the Company decided to settle the total debt of these tax disputes (US$ 502) with the benefit of using tax loss carry forwards to pay US$ 402, of which US$ 248 was already used at September 30, 2017 and US$ 154 (US$ 160 after foreign translation effects) will be used in up to 12 months. The amount of US$ 100 was settled in a lump sum payment.

After joining the PRT in May 2017, the Company recognized a reversal of provisions for legal proceedings previously recognized for this matter in the amount of US$ 485. The impacts of this program were accounted for in the second quarter of 2017 within the Company’s statement of income amounting to US$ 82 after tax effects, as shown in note 20.2.4.

The PERT enabled reliefs to settle tax and non-tax debts overdue up to April 30, 2017 to the Brazilian Federal Tax Authorities (Brazilian Federal Revenue Service and National Treasury Attorney's Office), including amounts under disputes involving these authorities.

The Company elected to join the PERT to settle the legal proceeding, in the amount of US$ 1,977, with respect to a notice of deficiency issued due to the use of expenses arising from the Terms of Financial Commitment (TFC), signed by Petrobras and Petros Plan in 2008, as deductible in determining taxable profit. The TFC represents a commitment to cover obligations due to participants’ accepted changes in the plan benefits and disputes resolved at that period.

36

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

The court ruled on this matter in the second quarter of 2017 granting the deduction of these expenses from the taxable profit computation, but limited to 20% of the payroll and compensation of key management participants in the plan. After assessing the fundamentals of this court ruling, the Company reassessed the probability of outflow of resources with respect to this dispute and estimated a portion of it as probable.

The Company was not able to use tax loss carry forwards to settle this amount as this tax dispute was in the scope of the National Treasury Attorney's Office. Accordingly, an assessment of the other reliefs was performed and, as a result, the Company decided to settle this tax dispute, totaling US$ 1,977, by paying US$ 1,317, which takes into account the benefits reliefs on interests, penalties and related charges. Of this amount, US$ 413 was settled in cash in August 2017, and the remaining amount will be settled through 145 monthly installments bearing interest at Selic interest rate (Brazilian short-term interest rate), of which the first one will mature in January 2018.

Pursuant to the Provisional Measure 807/2017 enacted on October 31, 2017, the period to join this program was extended from August 31 to November 14, 2017. Therefore, the Company decided in the third quarter of 2017 to settle other disputes relating to debts in the scope of the Brazilian Federal Revenue Service amounting to US$ 226, following unfavorable court rulings that changed the Company’s estimates about probability of outflow of resources to probable. After the relief under the PERT, the total amount of these disputes was reduced to US$ 125, of which US$ 103 will be settled in January 2018 through a lump sum payment, and the remaining amount will be paid through 145 monthly installments. These disputes refer to:

Accordingly, the Company recognized the amount of US$ 1,975 within the statement of income for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, made up of tax debts after reliefs and tax effects amounting to US$ 1,264, reversals of deferred income tax assets for unused tax losses from 2012 to 2017 amounting to US$ 711 and reversal of provisions previously recognized totaling US$ 8, as shown in note 20.2.4.

In addition, the Company decided to use additional benefits pursuant to the Law No. 13,496/2017 enacted in October 2017 in order to reduce the debit related to Petros Plan under the PERT settlement program by US$ 125 after tax effects. This effect will be included in the income statement for the fourth quarter of 2017.

The PRD enabled relief to settle non-tax debts overdue to the Brazilian Federal Agencies and similar bodies up to October 25, 2017, including amounts under disputes and debts in the scope of other settlement programs involving these authorities.

The Company joined the PRD to settle some legal proceedings involving ANP, with respect to production tax debts for which the likelihood of losses were deemed probable, following a court ruling in August 2017 granting to ANP its arguments.

After assessing the benefits from relief on interest, penalties and related charges provided for by this program, the Company decided to settle these disputes, totaling US$ 340 by paying US$ 227, of which US$ 136 will be settled in a lump sum payment in the fourth quarter of 2017 and the settlement of the remaining amount is expected to occur in January 2018.

Accordingly, the Company recognized US$ 163 within the statement of income for the nine-month period ended September 20, 2017, after tax effects, as shown in note 20.2.4.

37

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

In 2017, the Company elected to settle in cash VAT (ICMS) tax disputes concerning the states of Amazonas, Ceará, Minas Gerais and Pernambuco by joining states amnesty settlement programs, being exempted of paying interests and penalties. Accordingly, the Company charged US$ 56 as other taxes.

 

38

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

State Law

On December 30, 2015, the state of Rio de Janeiro enacted laws that increased the tax burden on the oil industry since March 2016, as follows:

The Company believes that the taxation established by both laws is not legally justifiable, and therefore, the Company has supported the Brazilian Association of Companies for the Exploration and Production of Oil and Gas (ABEP - Associação Brasileira de Empresas de Exploração e Produção de Petróleo e Gás), which has filed complaints challenging the constitutionality of such laws before the Brazilian Supreme Court.

The Brazilian Federal Attorney has expressed favorable opinions regarding the basis of the ABEP complaints and the granting of judicial injunctions in favor of the oil and gas industry, to avoid the associated tax burden imposed on it.

As the Brazilian Supreme Court has not ruled on the ABEP request for formal injunctions, the Company filed individual complaints before the State Court of Rio de Janeiro challenging both laws and, as a result, judicial injunctions were granted in favor of the Company in December 2016 and this tax burden has been suspended.

Brazilian Federal Law

During the third quarter of 2017, the Brazilian Federal Government enacted new tax rules applicable to the oil and gas industry.

On August 18, 2017, the Decree No. 9,128 and Provisional Measure No. 795 were enacted, providing for extension of relief on temporary admissions under Repetro (Special Customs Regime for the Export and Import of Goods destined to Exploration and Production of Oil and Natural Gas Reserves) to 2040, as well as amendments to certain matter, mainly concerning to:

These regulations are still subject to the Brazilian National Congress approval and, therefore, the Company is currently unable to make a reliable estimate of the respective financial impacts.

The company has disputes regarding the immediate deduction of crude oil production development costs from the basis of computation of taxable income, and also related to withholding income tax on remittances vessels charters payments. Additional information on these disputes is presented in note 29.3. Following the approval of the new taxation model of the sector by the Brazilian National Congress, it is expected greater stability and legal security to the companies, allowing an increase in investments and reduction of litigation involving the oil and industry.

In addition, ANP enacted Resolution No. 703 on September 26, 2017, establishing new criteria of reference price for the calculation of production taxes. The new calculation will be effective on January 1, 2018 and will be applied gradually to 2022, starting from a percentage of 20% according to the new rules. The new reference price for production taxes calculation takes into account different characteristics of the product in each exploratory area.

 

39

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras

 

The changes in the deferred income taxes are presented as follows:

Income taxes in Brazil comprise corporate income tax (IRPJ) and social contribution on net income (CSLL). Brazilian statutory corporate tax rates are 25% and 9%, respectively.

 

 

The Company recognizes the deferred tax assets based on projections of taxable profits for future periods that are revised annually. The deferred tax assets will be realized in a ten years perspective to the extent of provisions realization and final resolution of future events, both based on the Business and Management Plan – BMP assumptions.

 

40

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

The following table provides the reconciliation of Brazilian statutory tax rate to the Company’s effective rate on income before income taxes:

 

 

 

 

The Company sponsors defined benefit and variable contribution pension plans in Brazil and abroad, as well as defined-benefit medical plans for employees in Brazil (active and retirees) and their dependents. See note 22 to the audited consolidated financial statement for the year ended December 31, 2016 for detailed information about pension and medical benefits sponsored by the Company.

Changes in the net defined benefits are set out as follows:

41

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

Pension and medical benefit expenses, net recognized in the statement of income are set out as follows:

 

 

As of September 30, 2017, the Company had pledged crude oil and oil products volumes, totaling US$ 3,817, as collateral for the Terms of Financial Commitment (TFC) signed by Petrobras and Petros in 2008 (US$ 1,979 as of December 31, 2016). The amount of collateral for the Terms of Financial Commitment (TFC) was revised and updated in the third quarter of 2017  so as to  reflect the increase in the commitments assumed.

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company's contribution to the defined contribution portion of the Petros Plan 2 was US$ 206 (US$ 175 in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016) recognized in the statement of income.

Deficit settlement plan - Petros

Petros’ financial statements for 2016 were approved by the Executive Council of Petros on May 26, 2017 and presented an accumulated deficit of US$ 8.2 billion (US$ 5.8 billion accumulated until 2015) in the Petros Plan of the Petrobras Group, according to the general accepted accounting standards for the post-retirement sector, regulated in Brazil by the Post-Retirement Benefit Federal Council – CNPC.

On June 19, 2017, the Superintendency of Post-retirement Benefits (PREVIC) issued the Conduct Adjustment Declaration (TAC) for Petros, determining a deadline for the implementation of its plan for reduction of the accumulated deficit computed at the end of 2015.

On September 12, 2017, the Executive Council of Petros approved the deficit of the year 2015 to be settled and addressed it to the Company. It is expected this amount may reach US$ 8.7 billion due to interest and inflation forecasts to December 2017.

42

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

The Company assessed the deficit settlement plan and submitted it for the approval of the Secretariat of Management and Governance for the State-owned Companies (Secretaria de Coordenação e Governança das Empresas Estatais – SEST), and Petros should implement this plan within 60 calendar days following its approval, including the beginning of the additional contributions from participants and sponsors.

Pursuant to relevant regulation, the sponsors and participants will cover this deficit based on their respective proportions of regular contributions. Accordingly, the Company will cover approximately US$ 4.3 billion of this deficit and the contributions will occur during 18 years through decreasing values, of which the estimated amount for the first year is US$ 0.5 billion.

 

The Company’s profit sharing benefits comply with Brazilian legal requirements and those of the Brazilian Department of Coordination and Governance of State‐Owned Enterprises (DEST), of the Ministry of Planning, Budget and Management, and of the Ministry of Mines and Energy, and are computed based on the consolidated net income attributable to the shareholders of Petrobras.

The amount of profit sharing benefits is computed based on the results of six corporate indicators, for which annual goals are defined by the Executive Board and approved by the Board of Directors pursuant to the review of the Business and Management Plan (BMP).

The results of the six individual goals are factored into a consolidated result that will determine the percentage of the profit to be distributed as a profit sharing benefit to employees. However, in the event the Company records a net loss for the period and all the annual goals are achieved, the profit sharing benefit will be half a month’s salary for each employee added by half of the lowest amount of profit sharing paid in the prior year, as established in the Company’s collective bargaining agreement.

Profit sharing benefits for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017

Based on the estimates in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company recognized a provision of US$ 98 as other income and expenses.

 

From January 2014 to September 30, 2017, the Company implemented voluntary separation incentive plans (PIDV) as presented below:

 

 

As of September 30, 2017 changes in the provision are set out as follows:

 

 

 

As of September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, subscribed and fully paid share capital was US$ 107,380 and share issuance costs were US$ 279, represented by 7,442,454,142 outstanding common shares and 5,602,042,788 outstanding preferred shares, all of which are registered, book-entry shares with no par value.

Preferred shares have priority on returns of capital, do not grant any voting rights and are non-convertible into common shares.

43

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, the Company principally recognized as other comprehensive income the following effects:

Cumulative translation adjustment gain of US$ 1,299, mainly due to exchange differences arising from the translation of these consolidated financial statements to the presentation currency. In addition, the sale of Petrobras Chile and Guarani (see note 9.1) triggered the recycling of cumulative translation adjustments previously recognized in shareholders’ equity to the income statement within other income and expenses, totaling US$ 37.

Foreign exchange rate variation gains of US$ 2,712, after taxes and amounts reclassified to the statement of income, recognized in the Company's shareholders' equity, as a result of its cash flow hedge accounting policy. At September 30, 2017, the cumulative balance of foreign exchange variation losses, net of tax effects, is US$ 8,585 (see note 31.2).

 

 

 

 

 

In the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, sales from transactions with two customers reached approximately 10% or more of the Company’s sales revenue, totaling US$ 6,029 (US$ 5,793 in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016) and US$ 5,735 (US$ 6,075 in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2016). These sales revenues mainly impacted the Refining, Transportation and Marketing (RT&M) business segment.

 

44

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

45

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

46

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

 

 

 

47

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras

 

The business segment information is reported in the manner in which the Company’s senior management assesses business performance and makes decisions regarding investments and resource allocation.

 

 

48

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras

 

 

 

49

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras

 

 

 

 

50

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Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras

 

The Company recognizes provisions based on the best estimate of the costs of proceedings for which it is probable that an outflow of resources embodying economic benefits will be required and that can be reliably estimated. These proceedings mainly include:

Provisions for legal proceedings are set out as follows:

 

 

 

 

In preparing its financial statements for the period ended September 30, 2017, the Company considered all available information concerning legal proceedings in which the Company is a defendant, in order to estimate the amounts of obligations and probability that outflows of resources will be required.

Excluding foreign exchange translation effects (see note 2), the main changes in the provision for legal proceedings in the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017 were primarily attributable to unfavorable court rulings that changed  probabilities of outflows of resources relating to certain claims to probable, as well as indexation charges over the balance of provision, as presented below:

Labor claims

Provision for labor claims increased mainly due to the assessment of court rulings on several labor disputes occurred during this period and to indexation charges over the balance of provision.

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Tax claims

Provision for tax claims decreased primarily reflecting the reversion of a provision previously recognized in 2016 with respect to disallowed tax credits applied for income taxes and other Brazilian Federal taxes computation, following the decision to benefit from the Special Tax Settlement Program (Programa Especial de Regularização Tributária - PRT), as shown in note 20.2.1.

In addition, there were some provisions recognized and reversed during this period due to unfavorable court rulings and the decision to settle them along with the reliefs provided by the PRT, relating to:

Civil claims

Provision for civil claims increased after assessing court rulings occurred in this period denying the Company’s appeals, with respect to production taxes collection over gas production in Urucu field, fines imposed by ANP relating to measurement systems and other civil claims, as well as indexation charges over the balance of provisions.

In addition, there were some provisions recognized and reversed during the nine-month period ended September 30, 2017, due to settlements reached and unfavorable rulings payed and joined to PRD, in respect of:

Judicial deposits made in connection with legal proceedings are set out in the table below according to the nature of the corresponding lawsuits:

 

 

Contingent liabilities for which either the Company is unable to make a reliable estimate of the expected financial effect that might result from resolution of the proceeding, or a cash outflow is not probable, are not recognized as liabilities in the financial statements but are disclosed in the notes to the financial statements, unless the likelihood of any outflow of resources embodying economic benefits is considered remote.

The estimates of contingent liabilities for legal proceedings are indexed to inflation and updated by applicable interests. As of September 30, 2017, estimated contingent liabilities for which the possibility of loss is not considered remote are set out in the following table:

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A brief description of the nature of the main contingent liabilities (tax, civil, environmental and labor) is set out in the following table:

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Between December 8, 2014 and January 7, 2015, five putative securities class action complaints were filed against the Company in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY). These actions were consolidated on February 17, 2015 (the “Consolidated Securities Class Action”). The Court appointed a lead plaintiff, Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited (“USS”), on March 4, 2015. Together with two other plaintiffs—Union Asset Management Holding AG (“Union”) and Employees' Retirement System of the State of Hawaii (“Hawaii”)—USS filed a consolidated amended complaint (“CAC”) on March 27, 2015 that purported to be on behalf of investors who:

The CAC alleged, among other things, that in the Company’s press releases, filings with the SEC and other communications, the Company made materially false and misleading statements and omissions regarding the value of its assets, the amounts of the Company’s expenses and net income, the effectiveness of the Company’s internal controls over financial reporting, and the Company’s anti-corruption policies, due to the alleged corruption purportedly committed in connection with certain contracts, which allegedly artificially inflated the market value of the Company’s securities.

On April 17, 2015, Petrobras, Petrobras Global Finance - PGF and the underwriters of notes issued by PGF (the “Underwriter Defendants”) filed a motion to dismiss the CAC.

On July 9, 2015, the judge presiding over the Consolidated Securities Class Action ruled on the motion to dismiss, partially granting the Company’s motion. Among other decisions, the judge dismissed claims relating to certain debt securities issued in 2012 under the Securities Act of 1933 as time barred by the Securities Act’s statute of repose, and ruled claims relating to securities purchased on the Brazilian stock exchange must be arbitrated, as established in the Company’s bylaws. The judge rejected other arguments presented in the motion to dismiss the CAC and, as a result, the Consolidated Securities Class Action continued with respect to those other claims.

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As allowed by the judge, a second consolidated amended complaint was filed on July 16, 2015, a third consolidated amended complaint (“TAC”) was filed on September 1, 2015, among other things extending the Class Period through July 28, 2015 and adding Petrobras America, Inc. as a defendant, and a fourth consolidated amended complaint (“FAC”) was filed on November 30, 2015. The TAC and FAC, brought by lead plaintiff, Union, Hawaii, and an additional plaintiff, North Carolina Department of State Treasurer (“North Carolina”) (collectively, “class plaintiffs”)—brings those claims alleged in the CAC that were not dismissed or were allowed to be re-pleaded under the judge’s July 9, 2015 ruling.

Petrobras, PGF, Petrobras America, Inc. and the Underwriter Defendants filed motions to dismiss the TAC on October 1, 2015 and the FAC on December 7, 2015.

On December 20, 2015, the judge ruled on the motions to dismiss, partially granting the motions. Among other decisions, the judge dismissed the claims of USS and Union based on their purchases of notes issued by PGF for failure to plead that they purchased the notes in U.S. transactions. The judge also dismissed claims under the Securities Act of 1933 for certain purchases for which class plaintiffs had failed to plead the element of reliance. The judge rejected other arguments presented in the motion to dismiss the FAC and, as a result, the Consolidated Securities Class Action continued with respect to the remaining claims.

On October 15, 2015, class plaintiffs filed a motion for class certification in the Consolidated Securities Class Action, and on November 6, 2015, Petrobras, PGF, Petrobras America, Inc. and the Underwriter Defendants opposed the motion.

On February 2, 2016, the judge granted plaintiffs’ motion for class certification, certifying a Securities Act Class represented by Hawaii and North Carolina and an Exchange Act Class represented by USS.

On June 15, 2016, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (“Second Circuit”) granted Petrobras’ motion requesting interlocutory appellate review of the class certification decision. Petrobras and the other defendants moved in district court for a stay of all district court proceedings, which the district judge denied on June 24, 2016 and, on June 27, 2016, the parties filed motions for summary judgment. Defendants then moved in the Second Circuit for a stay of all district court proceedings. On August 2, 2016, the Second Circuit granted Defendants’ motion to stay all district court proceedings. Oral argument regarding the appeal was held before the Second Circuit on November 2, 2016.

On July 7, 2017, the Second Circuit vacated, in part, the class certification decision and remanded the case to the district court for further proceedings.

The Second Circuit partially granted the Company’s appeal, reversing some aspects of the district court’s ruling and affirming others. Among other issues, the Second Circuit ruled that the district judge failed to consider whether the question of whether the transactions occurred in the United States could be determined through a common set of evidence, and whether, if not, common issues would predominate over individual ones.  The effect of the Second Circuit’s decision is to vacate the classes certified by the district court pending additional proceedings in the district court on remand.

On July 21, 2017, Petrobras filed a request for rehearing or en banc review with the Second Circuit regarding portions of the Second Circuit’s decision affirming the district court’s order, which was denied on August 24, 2017.

On November 1, 2017, Petrobras and certain other defendants filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court appealing the Second Circuit’s decision. On November 3, 2017, the Second Circuit granted the motion to stay the mandate filed by Petrobras on August 30, 2017, and as a result the proceeding will remain stayed until a final decision is issued by the Supreme Court.

In addition to the Consolidated Securities Class Action, to date, 33 lawsuits have been filed by individual investors before the same judge in the SDNY (six of which have been stayed), and one has been filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (collectively, the “Opt-out Claims”), consisting of allegations similar to those in the Consolidated Securities Class Action. On August 21, 2015, Petrobras, PGF and underwriters of notes issued by PGF filed a motion to dismiss certain of the Opt-out Claims in the SDNY, and on October 15, 2015, the judge ruled on the motion to dismiss, partially granting the motion. Among other decisions, the judge dismissed several Exchange Act, Securities Act and state law claims as barred by the relevant statutes of repose. The judge denied other portions of the motion to dismiss and, as a result, these actions continued with respect to other claims brought by these plaintiffs.

On October 31, 2015, the SDNY judge ordered that the Opt-out Claims before him in the SDNY and the Consolidated Securities Class Action be tried together in a single trial not to exceed a total of eight weeks. On November 5, 2015, the judge scheduled the trial to begin on September 19, 2016; however, the trial is now stayed due to the stay imposed by the Second Circuit decision on August 2, 2016.

On November 18, 2015, the judge ordered that any Opt-out Claim filed before him in the SDNY after December 31, 2015 will be stayed in all respects until after the completion of the trial.

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On October 21, 2016, Petrobras’ board of directors approved agreements to settle Opt-out Claims in four cases: Dodge & Cox Int’l Stock Fund, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-10111 (JSR), Janus Overseas Fund, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-10086 (JSR),PIMCO Funds: PIMCO Total Return Fund, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-08192 (JSR) and Al Shams Investments Ltd., et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-6243 (JSR).  The terms of the settlements are confidential.

On November 23, 2016, Petrobras’ board of directors approved agreements to settle Opt-out Claims in eleven cases:  Ohio Public Employees Retirement System v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras et al., No. 15-cv-03887 (JSR); Abbey Life Assurance Company Limited, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A., et al., No. 15-cv-6661 (JSR); Aberdeen Emerging Markets Fund, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-3860 (JSR); Aberdeen Latin American Income Fund Limited, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-4043 (JSR); Delaware Enhanced Global Dividend and Income Fund, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-4043 (JSR); Dimensional Emerging Markets Fund, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-02165 (JSR); Manning & Napier Advisors, LLC, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, No. 15-cv-10159 (JSR); Russell Investment Company, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, No. 15-cv-07605 (JSR); Skagen, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, et al., No.15-cv-2214 (JSR); State of Alaska Department of Revenue, Treasury Division, et al. v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, No. 15-cv-8995 (JSR), and State Street Cayman Trust Co., Ltd., v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras, No. 15-cv-10158 (JSR).

On February 24, 2017, Petrobras’ board of directors approved agreements to settle Opt-out Claims in four cases:  New York City Employees Retirement System, et al.  v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras et al., No. 15-cv-2192 (JSR),  Transamerica Income Shares, Inc., et al v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-3733 (JSR), Internationale Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-6618 (JSR) Lord Abbett Investment Trust – Lord Abbett Short Duration Income Fund, et al v. Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras, et al., No. 15-cv-7615 (JSR).  

On June 19, 2017, Petrobras’ board of directors approved an agreement to settle Opt-out Claims in a case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania filed by a group of affiliates of The Vanguard Group Inc. (“Vanguard”), No. 15-cv-6283.

On September 13, 2017, Petrobras’ board of directors approved an agreement to settle an Opt-out Claim in a case in the SDNY filed by a group of affiliates of the Discovery Global Citizens Master Fund, Ltd, No. 15-cv-9126.

The class action and seven cases with Opt-out Claims remain pending against Petrobras, but are stayed until the Supreme Court’s disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari.  The actions continue to assert the claims that have not been dismissed by the district judge, although the classes certified by the district judge have been vacated pending additional proceedings in the district court on remand. In addition to these cases, there are six individual actions pending, which are stayed since they have been filed after December 31, 2015, pursuant to the district court’s decision on November 18, 2015.

Based on the settlements reached, and the status of certain other Opt-out Claims, the Company charged to the statement of income the amounts presented below:

 

 

The terms of the settlements are confidential and Petrobras denies all allegations of wrongdoing and continues to defend itself vigorously in all pending actions. The settlements, the terms of which are confidential, are aimed at eliminating the uncertainties, burdens and expense of ongoing litigation. The Consolidated Securities Class Action and certain Opt-out Claims involve highly complex issues that are subject to substantial uncertainties and depend on a number of factors such as the novelty of the legal theories, the information produced in discovery, the timing of court decisions, rulings by the court on key issues, analysis by retained experts, and the possibility that the parties negotiate in good faith toward a resolution.

In addition, the claims asserted are broad, span a multi-year period and involve a wide range of activities, and the contentions of the plaintiffs in the Consolidated Securities Class Action and certain Opt-out Claims concerning the amount of alleged damages are varied and, at this stage, their impact on the course of the litigation is complex and uncertain. The uncertainties inherent in all such matters affect the amount and timing of the ultimate resolution of these actions. As a result, the Company is unable to make a reliable estimate of eventual loss arising from the Consolidated Securities Class Action and certain Opt-out Claims.

Depending on the outcome of the litigation, we may be required to pay substantial amounts, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, its consolidated results of operations or its consolidated cash flows for an individual reporting period.

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The Company has engaged a U.S. firm as legal counsel and intends to defend these actions vigorously.

On January 23, 2017, the Stichting Petrobras Compensation Foundation (“Foundation”) filed a class action before the district court in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, against Petrobras and its subsidiaries Petrobras International Braspetro B.V. (PIBBV) and Petrobras Global Finance B.V. (PGF); joint venture Petrobras Oil & Gas B.V. (PO&G), and some former managers of Petrobras.

This Foundation allegedly represents an unidentified group of investors and demands judicial remedies for alleged damages caused to investors who purchased securities issued by Petrobras and PGF outside the United States, before July 28, 2015, due to alleged illegal acts. The Foundation also alleges financial losses are connected to the facts uncovered by the Lava-Jato investigation and to purported false and misleading financial information released by the Company.

Petrobras, PGF, PIBBV and PO&G filed their first response to the claim on May 3, 2017 (first docket date), presenting the law firms that will defend these companies and requesting a hearing to discuss some aspects of the case.

On August 23, 2017, a hearing was held at the District Court in Rotterdam to establish the timeframe for proceedings. The next steps are: (i) initial arguments by defendants in November 2017, (ii) the Foundation’s reply in March 2018, and (iii) the oral hearing on June 28, 2018. The Court ruling is expected to be presented in September 2018.

This class action involves complex issues that are subject to substantial uncertainties and depend on a number of factors such as the legitimacy of the Foundation as the plaintiffs' attorney, the applicable rules to this complaint, the information produced in discovery, analysis by experts, the timing of court decisions and rulings by the court on key issues. Currently, it is not possible to determine if the Company will be responsible for the payment of compensations as a result of this action as this assessment depends on the outcome of these complex issues. Moreover, it is uncertain which investors are able to file complaints related to this matter against the Company.

In addition, the claims asserted are broad, span a multi-year period and involve a wide range of activities, and, at the current stage, the impacts of such claims are highly uncertain. The uncertainties inherent in all such matters affect the amount and timing of the ultimate resolution of these actions. As a result, the Company is unable to make a reliable estimate of eventual loss arising from this action. The Company is victim of the corruption scheme uncovered by the Lava-Jato investigation and aims to present and prove this condition before the Netherlands Authorities.

The uncertainties inherent in all such matters do not enable the Company to identify possible risks related to this action. Compensation for the alleged damages will only be determined by court rulings on complaints to be filed by individual investors, unless agreements to settle Opt-out Claims occur. The Foundation is not able to demand compensation for damages.      

Petrobras and its subsidiaries deny the allegations presented by the Foundation and intend to defend themselves vigorously.

 

The Company has granted collateral to the Brazilian Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás Natural e Biocombustíveis - ANP) in connection with the performance of the Minimum Exploration Programs established in the concession agreements for petroleum exploration areas in the total amount of US$ 2,524 of which US$ 965 were still in force as of September 30, 2017, net of commitments undertaken. The collateral comprises crude oil from previously identified producing fields, pledged as collateral, amounting to US$ 837 and bank guarantees of US$ 128.

 

The Company is exposed to a variety of risks arising from its operations, including price risk (related to crude oil and oil products prices), foreign exchange rates risk, interest rates risk, credit risk and liquidity risk. Corporate risk management is part of the Company’s commitment to act ethically and comply with the legal and regulatory requirements of the countries where it operates. To manage market and financial risks the Company prefers structuring measures through adequate capital and leverage management. The Company takes account of risks in its business decisions and manages any such risk in an integrated manner in order to enjoy the benefits of diversification.

A summary of the positions of the derivative financial instruments held by the Company and recognized in other current assets and liabilities as of September 30, 2017, as well as the amounts recognized in the statement of income and other comprehensive income and the guarantees given is set out as follows:

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A sensitivity analysis of the derivative financial instruments for the different types of market risks as of September 30, 2017 is set out following:

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Petrobras does not regularly use derivative instruments to hedge exposures to commodity price cycles related to products purchased and sold to fulfill operational needs. Derivatives are used as hedging instruments to manage the price risk of certain short-term commercial transactions.

The Company’s Risk Management Policy provides for, as an assumption, an integrated risk management extensive to the whole corporation, pursuing the benefit from the diversification of its businesses.

By managing its foreign exchange risk, the Company takes into account the group of cash flows derived from its operations. This concept is especially applicable to the risk relating to the exposure of the Brazilian Real against the U.S. dollar, in which future cash flows in U.S. dollar, as well as cash flows in Brazilian Real affected by the fluctuation between both currencies, such as cash flows derived from diesel and gasoline sales in the domestic market, are assessed in an integrated manner.

Accordingly, the financial risk management mainly involves structured actions by using natural hedges derived from the business of the Company.      

The foreign exchange risk management strategy may involve the use of derivative financial instruments to hedge certain liabilities, minimizing foreign exchange rate risk exposure, especially when the Company is exposed to a foreign currency in which no cash inflows are expected, for example, Pound Sterling.

In the short-term, the foreign exchange risk is managed by applying resources in cash or cash equivalent denominated in Brazilian Real, U.S. Dollar or in another currency.    

Considering the natural hedge aforementioned, the Company designates hedging relationships to account for the effects of the existing hedge between a portion of its long-term debt obligations (denominated in U.S. dollars) and its highly probable U.S. dollar denominated future export revenues, so that gains or losses associated with the hedged transaction (the highly probable future exports) and the hedging instrument (debt obligations) are recognized in the statement of income in the same periods.

A portion of principal amounts and accrued interest (non-derivative financial instruments), as well as foreign exchange rate forward contracts (derivative financial instruments) have been designated as hedging instruments. Derivative financial instruments expired during the year were replaced by principal and interest amounts in the hedging relationships for which they had been designated.

Individual hedging relationships were designated in a one-to-one proportion, meaning that a portion of the highly probable future exports for each month will be the hedged transaction of an individual hedging relationship, hedged by a portion of the company’s long-term debt. Only a portion of the Company’s forecast exports are considered highly probable.

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Whenever a portion of future exports for a certain period for which a hedging relationship has been designated is no longer highly probable, the Company revokes the designation and the cumulative foreign exchange gains or losses that have been recognized in other comprehensive income remain separately in equity until the forecast exports occur.

If a portion of future exports for which a hedging relationship has been designated is no longer expected to occur, any related cumulative foreign exchange gains or losses that have been recognized in other comprehensive income from the date the hedging relationship was designated to the date the Company revoked the designation is immediately recycled from equity to the statement of income.

The carrying amounts, the fair value as of September 30, 2017, and a schedule of expected reclassifications to the statement of income of cumulative losses recognized in other comprehensive income (shareholders’ equity) based on a US$ 1.00 / R$ 3.1680 exchange rate are set out below:

 

 

 

 

The ratio of highly probable future exports to debt instruments for which a hedging relationship has been designated in future periods is set out below:

 

 

A roll-forward schedule of cumulative foreign exchange losses recognized in other comprehensive income as of September 30, 2017 is set out below:

 

 

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Additional hedging relationships may be revoked or additional reclassification adjustments from equity to the statement of income may occur as a result of changes in forecast export prices and export volumes following a review of the Company’s business plan. Based on a sensitivity analysis considering a US$ 10/barrel decrease in Brent prices stress scenario, when compared to the Brent price projections in our most recent update of the 2017-2021 Business and Management Plan (Plano de Negócios e Gestão – PNG), a US$ 1 reclassification adjustment from equity to the statement of income would occur.

A schedule of expected reclassification of cumulative foreign exchange losses recognized in other comprehensive income to the statement of income as of September 30, 2017 is set out below:

 

 

In the first quarter of 2017, the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Global Trading B.V. (PGT), entered into a £ 700 million notional amount cross currency swap maturing in 2026, in order to hedge its Pounds/U.S. Dollar exposure arising from the Company’s debt denominated in Pounds.

A sensitivity analysis is set out below, showing the probable scenario for foreign exchange risk on financial instruments, computed based on external data along with stressed scenarios (a 25% and a 50% change in the foreign exchange rates), except for assets and liabilities of foreign subsidiaries, when transacted in a currency equivalent to their respective functional currencies.

 

 

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The Company considers that interest rate risk does not create a significant exposure and therefore, preferably does not use derivative financial instruments to manage interest rate risk, except for specific situations encountered by certain subsidiaries of Petrobras.

Credit risk management in Petrobras aims at minimizing risk of not collecting receivables, financial deposits or collateral from third parties or financial institutions through efficient credit analysis, granting and management based on quantitative and qualitative parameters that are appropriate for each market segment in which the Company operates.

The commercial credit portfolio is broad and diversified and comprises clients from the domestic and foreign markets.  In order to mitigate credits losses, the credit commissions assess creditworthiness and define credit limits, which are regularly monitored, based on the customer’s main activity, commercial relationship and credit history with Petrobras, solvency, financial situation and external market assessment of the customer. For information on allowance for impairment of trade and other receivables, see note 7.

Credit granted to financial institutions is related to collaterals received, cash surplus invested and derivative financial instruments. It is spread among “investment grade” international banks rated by international rating agencies and Brazilian banks.

Liquidity risk is represented by the possibility of a shortage of cash or other financial assets in order to settle the Company’s obligations on the agreed dates and is managed by the Company based on policies such as: centralization of cash management, optimization of the level of cash and cash equivalents held and reduction of working capital; maintenance of an adequate cash balance to ensure that cash needed for investments and short-term obligations is met even in adverse market conditions; increase in the average debt maturity, increase in funding sources from domestic and international markets, and developing a strong presence in the capital markets and also searching for new funding sources (such as new markets and financial products), as well as funds under the venture and divestment program.

A maturity schedule of the Company’s finance debt (undiscounted), including face value and interest payments is set out as follows:

 

 

 

Fair values are determined based on market prices, when available, or, in the absence thereof, on the present value of expected future cash flows.

The hierarchy of the fair values of the financial assets and liabilities, recorded on a recurring basis, is set out below:

Level 1: inputs are quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the entity can access at the measurement date.

Level 2: inputs are inputs other than quoted prices included within Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly.

Level 3: inputs are unobservable inputs for the asset or liability.

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There are no material transfers between levels for the periods presented.

The estimated fair value for the Company’s long term debt, computed based on the prevailing market rates, is set out in note 16.1.

The fair values of cash and cash equivalents, short-term debt and other financial assets and liabilities are equivalent or do not differ significantly from their carrying amounts.

 

Result of the Second and Third Bidding Rounds - Production Sharing Regime

On October 27, 2017, Petrobras acquired, in partnership with other companies, three offshore blocks in the second and third bidding rounds held by ANP under the production sharing regime. The Company will be the operator of all these blocks.

The total amount of the signature bonus to be paid by Petrobras in the fourth quarter of 2017 is US$ 360.

Prepayment of bank debts, renegotiation and new financing

In October 2017, the Company entered into prepayment operations in respect of existing debts amounting to US$ 1,280, of which US$ 730 refers to debt with JPMorgan maturing in 2018 and 2019, US$ 400 with HSBC maturing in 2019 and US$ 150 with Intesa Sanpaolo Bank maturing in 2020.

Furthermore, the Company rolled over existing debt amounting to US$ 1,600, of which US$ 750 refers to debt with HSBC maturing in 2022 and 2023, and US$ 850 with Intesa Sanpaolo Bank maturing in 2022.

The Company also entered into a new financing operation with Safra Bank, in the amount of US$ 300, maturing in 2023.

 

Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras fully and unconditionally guarantees the debt securities issued by Petrobras Global Finance B.V. (PGF), a 100-percent-owned finance subsidiary of Petrobras. There are no significant restrictions on the ability of Petrobras to obtain funds from PGF.

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

 

Date: November 14, 2017

PETRÓLEO BRASILEIRO S.A—PETROBRAS

By: /s/ Ivan de Souza Monteiro

______________________________

Ivan de Souza Monteiro

Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer