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Vale signed a preliminary accord on Thursday with state-run oil company Petrobras to buy a 25 percent stake in exploration rights for oil and gas blocks off Brazil's coast.

It said in a statement the accord laid the foundations for Vale's acquisition of exploration rights in the ES-M-466, ES-M-468 and ES-M-527 blocks off the coast of Brazil's Espirito Santo State, which Petrobras via auction.

The partnership between Brazil's two biggest companies still has to be approved by authorities, Vale said.

(Reporting by Denise Luna, Writing by Stuart Grudgings; Editing by John Picinich)