Reuters reported last Wednesday that Chilean industrial conglomerate Empresas Copec (Compañía de Petróleos de Chile) said it has signed an agreement with ExxonMobil to produce and distribute lubricants and fuels in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The Reuters news article stated that according to Copec, the deal includes the transfer of ExxonMobil's fuel business in Colombia and Ecuador to Copec, which would include plants and industrial installations, and could imply an investment by Copec of up to $747 million. Under the deal, Copec will take control of ExxonMobil Andean Holding LLC and its subsidiaries, as well as ExxonMobil Ecuador.

Copec said it would resell the fuel business it acquires from Exxon in Colombia as soon as possible. In addition to broad participation in the fuels and lubricants business in the Andean region in general, the deal specifically includes the provision of fuel to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, and the participation of ExxonMobil in auctions run by Copec for the supply of fuel to Chile.

The transfer of control is set to take place in the second half of 2017, Copec said.

In 2003, an agreement with ExxonMobil allowed Copec to exclusively market the Mobil brand in Chile. In 2003, Copec transferred all its fuel operations to a new subsidiary that retained the name Copec and changed its name to Empresas Copec S.A., maintaining control of all companies that belonged to Copec, which until that time fulfilled the role of parent company.