Petrobras needs to be “as big as possible” to guarantee its long-term future, says the head of Brazil’s state-controlled oil major, as the company boosts investments in activities ranging from offshore drilling to biofuels and fertilisers.
Chief executive Magda Chambriard laid out an expansive vision for the $92bn group, one of the world’s top crude producers, that would accelerate the reversal of a strategy under previous governments to largely exit areas outside deepwater exploration.
“When we look at what company we want to be in 2050, we say ‘as big as possible’ and growing at least at the same rate as Brazil,” she said in her first interview with international media since taking the job. “We will grow in oil and generate additional energy, including renewable sources.”
Brazil’s government, which owns 37% of Petrobras equity, but controls just over half of voting rights appointed her in May.
Petrobras aims to achieve total production of 3.2 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent a day by 2028, from 2.7 million in the third quarter of 2024.