Petrobras makes cuts to five-year investment plan

Petrobras said it will focus on the prolific deepwater oilfields in the so-called pre-salt area in the Atlantic Ocean as it sells non-core assets to reduce debt.

Petrobras said it plans to invest US$46 billion, or 84% of the total investments, in exploration and production. That compares with US$64 billion a year ago. The company said it would limit spending approval to new projects that can be profitable with oil prices as low as US$35 per barrel.

The reduction was in line with a 14 September filing in which Petrobras had said it would limit exploration and production spending to US$40 billion to US$50 billion as the coronavirus spread crushed demand and prices.

Before the pandemic, in November 2019, Petrobras said it would invest US$75.7 billion between 2021 and 2024.

The spending cut will cut Petrobras’ daily production to around 2.75 million boe in 2021, it said, from an expected output of 2.84 million bpd in 2020.

However, production of oil and natural gas should rise to 3.3 million boe/d by 2024 and hold steady in 2025, the company said.

Petrobras set its gross debt target at US$67 billion for 2021 and confirmed its plans to reduce debt to US$60 billion in 2022.

The company announced plans to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions of its operations by 25% until 2030.

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