What's in Petrobras' plans?

Petrobras' ambitions for the coming years include the reuse of FPSOs, expansion of national gas supply, fertilizers and oil products, and decarbonization. 

During a breakfast with journalists on Monday, the CEO of the Brazilian state-run firm, Magda Chambriard, and executive directors gave indications of themes that should appear in its new business plan (2025-29), which will be announced in November.

BNamericas outlines the highlights of the meeting in Rio de Janeiro: 

FPSOs

In an effort to increase the recovery factor of oil and gas reserves in the Campos basin and avoid the high costs of building new FPSOs, Petrobras is evaluating using units that were due to be decommissioned in new projects. 

Among the platforms under study are P-19, P-35, P-37 and P-47.

“We believe that the Campos basin can possibly produce the same amount of oil for the next 40 or 50 years as it has done to date,” said Chambriard. 

Campos began producing at the end of the 1970s and is now the second most productive basin in the country, behind Santos. 

The CEO said that this move is a message to the market that the company needs more affordable FPSOs. 

“The revitalization of platforms is part of the understanding that we’ve reached unacceptable platform values. It's not possible to contract platforms with the capacity to produce 100,000b/d for around US$4bn,” said Chambriard.  

Recent tenders held by Petrobras – such as those for the FPSOs Deepwater (SEAP I and II), Albacora and Barracuda/Caratinga – have attracted few bidders due to the scarcity of financing and the contractual requirements established by the company relating to financial guarantees and local content.

One of the strategies for contracting new platforms is to use the BOT (build-operate-transfer) model, in addition to EPC (engineering, procurement and construction). 

On Monday, the federal oil giant launched the tender to contract the P-86 FPSO, for the revitalization of Marlim Sul/Leste, under the EPC model, and by November it should put the new contracting process for the Sergipe deepwater platforms (SEAP 1 and 2) on the market, possibly as a BOT. 

With regard to the Albacora production unit, the company is still studying which contractual methodology will be used. 

Also in 2024, Petrobras plans to put the Maria Quitéria FPSO in Parque das Baleias, and Marechal Duque de Caxias (Mero), into operation. The Almirante Tamandaré (Búzios) should produce its first oil sometime around the end of this year or in early January. 

GAS

Chambriard said that the Búzios 12 FPSO, whose tender is due to be launched next year, will have the obligation to increase the availability of gas for the market. 

“It was a surprise to find some Búzios platforms without the capacity to export gas to the coast. We’re remedying this, seeing which wells may have been left behind and not taken advantage of,” said the executive, underscoring that this is also a problem in some fields in the Campos basin.  

Petrobras' idea is to make new volumes of gas available to industries such as fertilizers, chemicals and petrochemicals. 

Meanwhile, the company is making progress in the free (non-regulated) gas market. Today, it has six free customers – the steelmakers Ternium, CSN and Gerdau, the Santa Cruz and Araucária thermoelectric plants and Acelen, operator of the Mataripe refinery in Bahia state – and is due to announce a new free customer at the beginning of 2025.  

“With the right gas price, the Brazilian market can triple its capacity to absorb this fuel,” said Chambriard. 

Since November, Petrobras has reduced the price of natural gas to distribution concessionaires in the regulated market by 1.41%. Since January 2023, when President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's government took over, the cumulative drop is 17%, according to Petrobras' executive director for the energy transition, Maurício Tolmasquim. 

He said that Petrobras has just approved new types of gas contracts for distributors. 

“They can make tailor-made contracts, playing with flexibility, term, start of supply, place of entry and price index. We had 20 possibilities and now there will be 48,” said Tolmasquim. 

In addition, the company is offering distributors a 10% discount on volumes that may be demanded in excess of the contractual minimum. 

DECARBONIZATION

Chambriard regretted that renewable diesel (diesel R), made from vegetable oil or animal fat, was left out of the fuel for the future program, which was recently approved by congress. 

The exclusion of diesel R from the transport and mobility decarbonization initiative was demanded by biodiesel producers in the country. 

“We don't want to compete with agribusiness. We’ll be partners with agribusiness, buying renewable oil to make renewable diesel. We’ll easily achieve a diesel with 10% renewable and then build refineries to reach 20%,” she said.  

Chambriard revealed that, in the next few days, Petrobras will announce a partnership with Brazilian miner Vale to promote decarbonization, enabling the use of bunker oil with up to 24% renewable fuel.  

“We're going to help Vale decarbonize its mining. Imagine its entire fleet of ships running on cleaner fuel.”

Tolmasquim said that Petrobras’ carbon capture, storage and utilization (CCUS) pilot project in Rio de Janeiro state should start operating in 2028. 

“Two other CCUS hubs should be incorporated into the new business plan,” he said.  

Chambriard assured that Petrobras will become carbon neutral before 2050. 

“I think it's possible for our net zero to happen in 2035. It's not a promise, but it's not impossible,” she said. 

REFINING AND FERTILIZERS

Petrobras has kept the utilization rate of its refineries above 90% in an effort to reduce fuel imports into the country. 

At the same time, it is investing in expanding its refining park, with the revamping of the first refining train at the Abreu e Lima refinery (RNEST) in Pernambuco state and construction of plants at the Boaventura Complex (formerly Gaslub) in Rio de Janeiro. 

The aim is to increase the country's oil processing capacity by 260,000b/d, particularly with a view to producing S10 diesel (with a lower sulfur content). 

The state-owned company is also investing in fertilizers again.

The Araucária Nitrogenados (ANSA) plant in Paraná state is scheduled to resume operations in 2025, which will meet around 10% of the domestic demand for urea, with production of 720,000t/y.

At the same time, the company is working to resume construction of Fertilizer Unit III in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, which will have projected urea and ammonia production capacity of 3,600t/d and 2,200t/d, respectively.