A Brazilian tax court ruled that state-controlled Petrobras did not break the law by deducting expenses related to the development of oil and gas field from its 2009 income taxes.

According to a March 24 securities filing, the Finance Ministry could still appeal against the ruling by the tax auditing court, known as CARF.

The Finance Ministry is seeking 5.1 billion reais (US$1.6 billion) from Petrobras in compensation for the deducation, newspaper Valor Economico reported on March 23.

(US$1 = 3.1336 reais)