Petrobras gets $10 bln loan from Chinese bank

Petrobras, a Brazilian multinational energy company, signed a 10-year contract on Tuesday for a 10-billion-dollar financing from the China Development Bank Corporation, the company source confirmed Wednesday.

The fund would be used to finance the Petrobras Business Plan 2009-2013 and would be made available to the company in several stages, according to Petrobras.

The company said the contracts had been under negotiation since May 2009.

"This funding has become symbolic because of the amount involved and because it represents a new stage for relations between developing countries' markets," the company said in the statement.

When the first withdrawal is made, Petrobras said, a long-term agreement on the export of Petrobras oil to UNIPEC Asia, a subsidiary of Sinopec (China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation), would take effect. It forecasts the export of 150,000 barrels of oil a day in the first year, and 200,000 barrels in the nine subsequent years.