Petrobras, the Brazilian state-controlled oil and gas multinational, disclosed that its board of governors approved, in a meeting in Brazilian capital Brasília, the updating of the project portfolio for the 2011/2014 period, which forecasts investment of up to 250 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 138 billion).
The volume of investment is lower than the 265 billion reais (US$ 146 billion) approved in the previous meeting and disclosed on the 19th of this month, together with the 2009 balance sheet.
The statement shows that the values approved were included in the Growth Acceleration Program (PAC-2) also announced by the government of Brazil forecasting investment of almost 1 trillion reais (US$ 550 billion).
Petrobras informed that the council also approved, for the period after 2014, a set of projects that total investment of approximately US$ 254 billion, also included in the PAC 2.
According to the company, the projects were evaluated based on a preliminary vision, considering the level of current knowledge, aligned to the company’s Vision 2020 Strategic Plan.
“Part of the investment for the post 2014 period represents the continuation of projects that are already considered in the 2010 – 2014 plan, which have maturity periods greater than the five years of the Business Plan, with special attention to exploration and production projects,” shows the company statement.
In Exploration and Production, investment should total US$ 85 billion from 2011 to 2014, a volume that should grow to US$ 221 billion in the period after 2014, totaling US$ 306 million.
The second main area in terms of investment is Supply and Refining, Transport and Trade and Petrochemicals: from 2011 to 2014 investment should reach US$ 44 billion, dropping to US$ 32 billion in the period after 2014, totaling US$ 76 billion.
According to figures disclosed by Petrobras, investment in the area of Exploration and Production (E&P) is aimed at increasing production of oil and natural gas, making use of the exploratory success reached in the post- and pre-salt layers and also including a furthering of exploratory activities, essential to company sustainability.
Investment in the area of Refining, Transport, Trade and Petrochemical sectors is aimed at increasing the production of oil products to supply the growing demand on the domestic market, adding value to the oil produced, increasing the company margins, and also allowing the export of petrochemicals.
In the Petrobras press statement, the company also disclosed that investment should be made in the improvement of the quality of oil products, complying with more rigorous international and environmental standards.
The plan also forecasts investment in new ethanol and biodiesel factories and infrastructure for the transfer of ethanol production.
