06/19/2024 – 19:45
By Rodrigo Viga Gaier and Fabio Teixeira and Marta Nogueira
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The president of Petrobras, Magda Chambriard, stated this Wednesday that she received from President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva the mission of “moving Petrobras, because it boosts Brazil’s GDP”, and highlighted that the oil company “is fully aligned with the government’s vision”.
During an inauguration ceremony attended by Lula, First Lady Janja and several State ministers, the executive reiterated her commitment to the company’s current plans, but with speed, and argued that it was essential to develop oil exploration frontiers, such as those of Equatorial and Southern Margin of Brazil.
The mission was given by Lula to the new CEO at a time when Brazil is seeking to accelerate its growth, while in the fiscal area the government is looking for ways to close the accounts and achieve a so-called zero deficit.
“What we are going to do is recorded in our strategic planning”, stated the executive, in an auditorium at the Petrobras Research Center (Cenpes), highlighting that the plan has the potential to generate hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs, in addition to significant resources for the Union, States and municipalities in government participation.
“We will make what was planned a reality, quickly”, he stressed, also highlighting commitment “to the profitability and efficiency that the market and Brazil expect from us”.
President Lula, in turn, demanded during his speech that Petrobras be an inducer of development, but without harming shareholders.
Chambriard took control of the company last month, following Lula’s decision to replace former president Jean Paul Prates, who was the target of several public criticisms from the Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira.
Last week, the president of Petrobras announced three new names to lead the company’s boards, increasing the number of female executives at the top of Petrobras to four, an unprecedented fact. According to her, there are no plans for further changes.
Chambriard quoted Silveira, also present at the event, at the beginning of his speech, thanking him for his trust: “my contact minister, thank you”.
Among the ministers present, the Minister of Finance, Fernando Haddad, the Minister of the Civil House, Rui Costa, among several others, also participated in the ceremony.
In a speech, Haddad thanked Petrobras for the agreement reached with the Federal Revenue this week to end a legal dispute involving the state-owned company’s tax debts and highlighted that the understanding was a demonstration that it is possible to have more decent, transparent and moral governance in the country.
The agreement will have an impact of 11.9 billion reais on the state-owned company’s second quarter net profit and will contribute to the primary result of the Union’s accounts for the year.
The Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, was not present at the event, while Ibama evaluates requests from Petrobras to search for oil in the so-called Equatorial Margin, seen as an important new frontier for the oil industry, but full of socio-environmental challenges, as in Foz do Amazon.
Asked by journalists about Marina’s absence, Chambriard stated that the minister must have had a schedule and must not have been able to attend. At the event, there were several ministers whose ministries interact with Petrobras.
PLANS FOR EXPLORATION AND PRODUCTION
A strong supporter of exploratory advances in the Equatorial Margin, an extensive coastal region that runs from Rio Grande do Norte to Amapá, Chambriard warned in his speech that “we cannot forget that oil and natural gas reserves constitute finite resources, so our energy security , during the just transition, involves its replacement”.
“In this sense, it is essential to develop our exploratory frontiers, such as those in the Equatorial Margin and the South of Brazil, always with rigorous safety standards, in absolute compliance with environmental legislation and licensing processes”, he stated.
The Equatorial Margin has great potential for offshore oil discoveries, but also enormous socio-environmental challenges.
Ibama last year rejected a request from Petrobras to drill in the Foz Basin of the Amazon River. The company filed a request for reconsideration, but the federal environmental agency has not yet responded.
Also at the event, Minister Silveira defended in a speech that the government build, together with Ibama and the oil company, an environmentally safe path to explore the region.
Chambriard also emphasized that “the path to a fair energy transition is inclusive, guided by care for people and the environment”.
The president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, expressed this Wednesday the expectation that there will be a decision soon on Petrobras’ request for reconsideration.
President Lula has defended Petrobras’ prospecting in the region and stated that Brazil cannot miss the opportunity to explore the region’s riches.
(By Rodrigo Viga Gaier, Fábio Teixeira and Marta Nogueira)
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