Petrobras to Invest $3.6 Billion in Brazil Complex, CEO Says

(Bloomberg) -- Brazil’s state-run oil giant Petroleo Brasileiro SA will invest 20 billion reais ($3.6 billion) in a Rio de Janeiro complex, its CEO said on Friday as the company opened a much-delayed natural gas processing facility.

Petrobras will invest 13 billion reais in coming years on a plant that will produce derivatives in Itaborai and another 7 billion reais on a refinery near the complex, CEO Magda Chambriard said. Work on those projects will start in 2025, she said.

Chambriard spoke at an event commemorating its Rota 3 project, which has the capacity to transport as much as 18 million cubic meters of natural gas per day and process 21 million cubic meters, increasing supply to the domestic market and reducing dependence on imports. Commercial operations of the processing plant – the biggest in Brazil - are scheduled to begin in October.

The new gas line has been delayed for years, forcing Petrobras to pay higher prices for the fuel from Bolivia. It also had to vie with European buyers for seaborne cargoes when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended the global market.

It was the second Petrobras inauguration under Chambriard, who took the helm of the company in May with a mandate to speed up investments. Renamed as Boaventura Energy Complex, the industrial area was formerly known as Comperj, an ill-fated gas and refinery project that had a history of pay-to-play scandals, cost overruns and writedowns.

Petrobras plans to add two gas-fired thermoelectric plants in the energy complex located about an hour and a half from Rio de Janeiro. The company will build refining units to produce lubricants, diesel and jet fuel on the site. It is also considering adding a petrochemicals unit to Boaventura Complex.

The new operation is expected to help the company’s plans to reduce natural gas injection back into wells to boost crude production. It also responds to to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s push to expand supply and lower prices.

Speaking at the same ceremony, Lula said Petrobras doesn’t merely serve to generate profits.

The oil giant also is considering participating in future power auctions. 

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