Statoil confident Brazil deal to go ahead despite suspension

OSLO: Norway's Statoil is confident that its deal with Petr?leo Brasileiro SA to acquire a stake in exploration block BM-S-8 offshore Brazil will eventually go ahead despite a court suspension, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

"We are confident that he deal will go ahead... We are considering various legal options, but we are confident that we have a strong case," Statoil's spokesman Erik Haaland said.

A Brazilian court has ordered the state-controlled company, known as Petrobras, to suspend the sale of its stake in the block to Statoil after a union argued there should have been an open bidding process.