Petrobras Won’t Feel Pinch in ’09, CEO Gabrielli Says

By Jeb Blount and Diana Kinch

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Petroleo Brasileiro SA won’t be affected by the credit crisis next year and is still analyzing whether to add two refineries, according to Chief Executive Officer Jose Sergio Gabrielli.

The plants, which aren’t in the Rio de Janeiro-based oil company’s current five-year plan, will be considered by the board of directors next month, a spokeswoman said. Meeting with reporters today in Rio, Gabrielli said exploration and production projects next year won’t be affected by the credit crisis.

One of those is the start of offshore test production at Tupi, the largest oil discovery in the Americas since 1976, Gabrielli said. Investments under the 2009-2013 five-year plan won’t be announced until next year, the state-controlled company known as Petrobras said today in a statement.

Petrobras is expected to include two new refineries in that plan, according to government and company officials. Petrobras aims to build the plants in the states of Maranhao and Ceara in northeastern Brazil, according to Edison Lobao, Brazil’s energy minister.

“Work is already under way on refineries in Pernambuco and Rio de Janeiro,” Paulo Roberto da Costa, Petrobras’ refining chief, told reporters at the meeting today in Rio. “The premium projects in Maranhao and Ceara are still at the preliminary study phase.”

The Maranhao refinery may have the potential to process 600,000 barrels a day of oil, while the Ceara plant may have capacity of 300,000 barrels a day, according to Petrobras. Pernambuco is expected to process 200,000 barrels a day and the Rio facility will have a 150,000-barrel-a-day capacity.

The premium refineries would produce low-sulfur fuels primarily for export to the European and U.S. markets.

Authorized Spending

Investment of 40 billion reais ($16.8 billion) next year, announced in August by Dilma Rousseff, the chief of staff to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, is a preliminary figure that excludes some areas, the Petrobras spokeswoman said today.

Petrobras received approval from Brazil’s legislature to spend as much as 72 billion reais next year, Gabrielli said. Decisions haven’t been made on how much the company actually will spend.

The credit crisis that has pinched budgets and spending worldwide isn’t likely to begin affecting Petrobras until 2013, if at all, Gabrielli told reporters today.

Petrobras preferred shares, the company’s most-traded class of stock, rose for the first day in three, gaining 10 centavos to 23.45 reais at 12:43 p.m. in Sao Paulo trading.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeb Blount at jblount@bloomberg.net; Diana Kinch in Rio de Janeiro dkinch1@bloomberg.net.