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Petrobras could be the last man standing when it comes to crude oil production amid the energy transition, the state-run oil company’s CEO Jean Paul Prates said in an interview in Rio de Janeiro.
“We will get market share,” Prates said, according to Bloomberg, referring to Brazil’s state-run oil company.
The comments come with respect to the energy transition and whether there is cause for concern for an oil company such as Petrobras. But Prates isn’t worried. “We may be the last to produce oil in the world,” he said.
Prates, the recently installed CEO of Petrobras, warned earlier this month that the company must be ready for the “unavoidable” energy transition and made inroads with its expansion of renewable energy assets, including new offshore wind projects.
But Prates insists that crude oil production will remain the number one priority, with renewable investments paling in comparison.
Brazil’s crude oil production is set to reach 3.4 million bpd this year, and is set to grow through 2030, but investments will be needed if the country is to keep growing—or even to just maintain those levels.
For now, Petrobras said it would focus on existing finds in the pre-salt areas, as well as looking for new ones. It will also look at opening up new basins in the controversial equatorial margin in the north, which shares similar geology to oil hotspot Guyana.
To move forward in that area, Petrobras is waiting on regulatory approval, which is anything but certain due to the fact that it is home to rather unique ecosystems that many—including Brazil’s environment minister—wish to protect. If Petrobras does manage to get approval for this area, it would be able to commence drilling in short order—as soon as April, Prates said.
