Statoil selling stake in Brazil offshore oil field

NEW YORK (AP) - Norway's Statoil says it has agreed to sell a 40 percent stake in its Peregrino offshore oil field near Brazil to a Chinese oil company for $3.07 billion in cash.

Statoil ASA said Friday it agreed to sell the stake to state-owned Sinochem Group. The field is set to start production next year.

The deal must be cleared by both the Chinese and Brazilian governments.

Statoil said the sale will reduce its production guidance for 2012 by 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day to a range of between 2.06 million and 2.16 million barrels per day.