Sinopec Pays $7.1B For 40% Of Repsol's Brazil Business

China's Sinopec

, Asia's largest refiner, will pay $7.1 billion to acquire 40% of Repsol's

Brazilian business. The combined entity will become one of Latin America's largest privately owned energy exploration firms. Repsol, Spain's largest oil company, is looking to raise cash to support its exploration efforts in oil-rich Brazil while Sinopec is among the Chinese energy producers with a voracious appetite for acquisitions to support China's growing energy demands. Brazil is a key target for Chinese investment, with resources deals worth $4.3 billion agreed so far this year compared with $362 million in 2009, according to the Wall Street Journal. Earlier this year, Sinochem, China's largest chemicals trader, agreed to buy a 40% stake in the Peregrino field offshore Brazil from Norway's Statoil

for $3.07 billion, the Journal reported.