Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras is pursing energy transition projects outside of Brazil, the company's chief energy transition and sustainability officer Mauricio Tolmasquim said during the Argus Rio Crude Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He did not give details regarding the location or investment of these projects.
The firm will avoid "putting all its eggs in one basket" to diversify investments away from oil, he said during his panel, calling energy transition "a matter of survival" for oil companies, citing dropping prices for renewable fuels and banks' unwillingness to give capital to companies that fail to address decarbonization goals.
He also reaffirmed Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's pledge to transform Petrobras into an integrated energy company.
Petrobras is investing 6pc — $4.4bn — of its total capital expenditure (capex) in energy transition, according to the company's 2023-2027 strategic plan. Of the total, $3.7bn goes towards decarbonization projects. Another $600mn are targeted for biofuels production, while the remaining $100mn are for "other renewable and low-carbon technologies and products," Tolmasquim said. Petrobras is due to lay out its 2024-2028 plan in November.
But "investing in renewable sources without jeopardizing the company's investments will be a challenge," he said. Petrobras doubled E&P investments in the first quarter of 2023.
"Petrobras is more advanced in some areas in energy transition than in others," which is one of the reasons the company is looking for partners, Tolmasquim said. "We need to continue to make our products greener" and start producing products other than natural gas and oil, such as hydrogen, he said.
