RIO DE JANEIRO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's biggest sugar and ethanol producer Cosan announced Thursday it has acquired oil and gas distributor ExxonMobil's 1,500 service stations in the country as part of a deal worth 826 million U.S. dollars.

    According to a statement from Cosan, the company funded the deal via a 310-million-dollar capital increase from minority shareholders this year and was seeking to finance the rest of the amount.

An aerial view of new oil platforms P-52 for the oil company Petrobas at Campos basin in Rio de Janeiro, 28 November, 2007.(Xinhua/Reuters File Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    One of the main aims of the operation was to ensure the ethanol distribution channels for Cosan, it said.

    According to the National Oil, Natural Gas and Bio-fuels Agency, the consumption of ethanol in Brazil exceeded that of gasoline in February this year, the first time in the history of the country.

    In the 2003-2007 period, ethanol consumption in Brazil increased 29.1 percent per year compared with a 2.7-percent rise in gasoline consumption.

    The purchase of the Esso-branded stations will give Cosan a 7.2-percent market share of retail fuel distribution in Brazil and enhance its position to sell biofuel made from sugarcane, it added.

    Esso was Brazil's fifth-largest fuel retailer, holding a 7.2-percent share in the distribution market.