Embattled Brazilian state-owned energy firm Petrobras has approved a new five-year investment plan for 2015-2019, which slashes total investments by 41% from last year’s estimates, the company announced on 29 June.
Last year, the company announced it planned a total capex of US$220.6 billion from 2014-2018. However, Petrobras’ new plan, announced today, takes this figure down 41% to $130.3 billion, with exploration and production taking the largest chunk ($108.6 billion).
Petrobras says 86% of that $108.6 billion will be allocated to production development, 11% for exploration, and 3% for operational support. Approximately $64 billion will be spent on new production systems, 91% geared toward the pre-salt, the company said.
Petrobras also expects to reach 3.7 MMboe/d of oil and gas production (total of Brazil and international) by 2020, estimating that the pre-salt will make up more than 50% of total oil production. However, this number has decreased from last year’s estimate of 5.3 MMboe/d by 2020. Locally, Petrobras expects a decrease as well, expecting to achieve 2.8 MMboe/d by 2020, down from 4.2 MMboe/d touted in last year’s plan.
The company also now expects to divest up to $15.1 billion in assets from 2015-2016, which will include up to 30% from its exploration and production side. In addition, Petrobras anticipates further restructuring of businesses, demobilization of assets and other divestments totaling $42.6 billion from 2017-2018. In May, Reuters said local reports out of Brazil stated that Petrobras is mulling the sale of some its Gulf of Mexico assets.
Scandal has plagued the Brazilian state-owned oil firm, with many contractors now under investigation. Announced today, Sevan Marine responded to local reports that said a former manager and agent of the company had been named in connection with Operation Car Wash (Lava Jato). Sevan Marine said in a statement that the company has contacted a law firm to conduct an investigation into the matter, and that the company has been cooperating with relevant authorities.
Last week, Keppel FELS and Jurong Shipyard were alleged to have paid bribes to win contracts with Sete Brasil to build 21 deepwater drilling vessels worth US$800 million each.
Two weeks ago, Brazilian police arrested Odebrecht President and CEO Marcelo Odebrecht in connection with Operation Car Wash.
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