Martha Nogueira, Reuters

RIO DE JANEIRO
Energiesnet.com 03 08 2023

Brazil’s state-run oil company Petrobras (PETR4.SA) will focus on financing large-scale renewable energy projects and evaluating new partnerships with energy companies in the coming years, its chief executive said in remarks released on Tuesday.

CEO Jean Paul Prates made the comments a day after the company announced it was evaluating seven offshore wind power projects along the Brazilian coastline with Norway’s national energy giant Equinor (EQNR.OL).

Once completed, the wind projects would deliver a combined generating capacity of 14.5 gigawatts, Prates said in remarks on Monday at the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston.

“The two companies have the same strategy: to make the most of the oil that we have available and we still need to use since humanity (remains) in this transition period,” he added in a video recording of his comments.

Prates also stressed that Petrobras will “start analyzing and financing large-scale renewable energy projects, consistent with (the companies) respective sizes.

The proposed partnership extends a tie-up between both companies sealed in 2018, and the potential new wind farms would take six to 10 years to begin generating electricity.

Prates said Petrobras will study the possibility of making the needed components for the wind projects in Brazil. Studies detailing how the offshore wind projects will connect to Brazil’s power grid have already started, he added.

The projects would extend across the coastlines of several northern Brazilian states, including Piaui, Ceara, Rio Grande do Norte, as well as the states of Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, and Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina.

Separately, the company said it expects authorization this month from environmental regulator Ibama for oil field exploration projects in equatorial areas.

Prates said Petrobras and Equinor will also analyze opportunities in the areas of carbon capture, plus hydrogen and oil and gas production. The company said later in a statement that a technical analysis must take place before potential costs can be assessed.

Reporting by Marta Nogueira; Writing by Carolina Pulice; Editing by David Alire Garcia and David Gregorio

reuters.com 03 07 2023