Petrobras Gets Reprieve from Whale Park Windfall

Brazil's state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA said on Friday it won a reprieve from quarterly payments of 350 million reais ($110 million) to the government while an oil-royalty dispute continues.

The decision to suspend the payments was made by the same panel of the International Court of Arbitration, part of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce, that first ordered the payments be made on July 6.

Petrobras is challenging a decision by Brazil's petroleum regulator ANP to levy an extra royalty, known in Brazil as the special participation, on seven offshore oilfields northeast of Rio de Janeiro.

The payments are suspended until the panel can decide the merits of the case. The court also gave the ANP and Petrobras more time to come up with the final values for the amount in back royalties Petrobras owes the ANP. The ANP has alleged that Petrobras owes it about 2.2 billion reais in back royalties for the seven fields.

($1 = 3.18 Brazilian reais)

(Reporting by Jeb Blount; Editing by Richard Chang)