Danish shipping and oil company Maersk is acquiring stakes in 3 pre-salt oil blocks in Brazil for $2.4bn from Korean oil refiner and marketer SK Energy. Maersk's head of investor relations Henrik Lund says the acquisition will be financed with cash on hand and that no debt will be used. Maersk is buying a 40% stake in the Polvo field, a 20% in the Wahoo block and a 27% stake in the Itaipu block. BP will operate the Polvo and Itaipu blocks while Anadarko will operate the Wahoo block. Lund says that while the Polvo field has net production of 10,000 barrels per day, the Wahoo and Itaipu discoveries will be appraised this year, with production beginning between 2016 and 2018. Maersk did not use financial advisors. Lund also says that Maersk acquired 50% of the Santos terminal known as Brasil Terminal Portuario in August. The terminal will be ready for business in 2012. The price of that deal was not disclosed. In addition, Lund says that Maersk's floating oil production and storage unit, Maersk Peregrino, has just arrived in Brazil's Peregrino block, adjacent to the Polvo field. Maersk will invest about $1bn to work in the field, which is owned by Norway's Statoil and China's Sinochem. It has a 15-year contract with an option for 15 more, Lund says. Production at Peregrino is expected to begin in early 2011, according to Statoil.