TB Petroleum

Revista Brasileira de Tecnologia e Negócios de Petróleo, Gás, Petroquímica, Química Fina e Indústria do Plástico

Petrobras' CEO participates in CERAWeek 2010

Fonte: Petrobras

Date: 10/03/2010 15:23

Petrobras’ CEO, José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo, made a special address during CERAWeek on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, in Houston, Texas. The conference, themed “Energy: Building a New Future,” focuses on providing insight on critical opportunities and challenges facing the global energy industry.

Gabrielli emphasized that Petrobras is addressing new demands even without considering growth. Conventional resources require intensified recovery techniques; finding and developing smaller areas requires different technology and adjustments; and production in the pre-salt areas, arctic, and the lower tertiary in the Gulf of Mexico are driving technological changes.

While breakthrough technology is not a requirement to solving new challenges, improvements in the current technology are important. The supply chain must also be developed. Gabrielli said that Petrobras will require 58 drilling rigs in the next ten years. The ability of suppliers to provide the necessary goods and services to meet these demands will affect the worldwide capacity to produce the resources needed.

According to the CEO, biofuels will increase in the future but not enough to substitute for the supply of traditional fossil fuels in the market. In Brazil, 51% of the fuel is already ethanol while gasoline is the alternative energy. By 2015, the expectation is that two-thirds of Brazil’s cars will be fueled by ethanol. Petrobras already has a mature market in Brazil.

Following the special address, Gabrielli granted a press conference. A few of the issues that were covered included the status of Petrobras’ capitalization plan, the exports of Brazilian ethanol to the U.S., and Petrobras’ plans to increase its refining capacity.