MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petrobras plans to invest 224 billion USD and double production to 5.4 million bpd

Brazil's state-run oil company announced Monday it will invest 224 billion US dollars through 2014 and double production by 2020. About 95% of that will be invested in Brazil.

Massive offshore oil finds have been discovered near Brazil's coast and some forecast they could hold 100 billion barrels of oil. Petrobras said it will spend 118.8 billion on production and exploration. That is up 13% from the 2009-2013 plan.

Petrobras CEO Sergio Gabrielli says the company plans to double its production by 2020. Petrobras produces 2.7 million barrels per day now. Gabrielli says that figure will jump to 5.4 million barrels per day. Petrobras announced spending estimates on Monday

Petrobras said it expects to raise 58 billion through debt and equity sales over the five-year period, including a planned share sale this year.

Petrobras is looking to fund the development of offshore reserves in the so-called pre-salt region off Brazil’s coast, home to discoveries including Tupi, the largest find since Mexico’s Cantarell in 1976.

Petrobras, Latin America’s biggest company by market value, plans to raise 25 billion USD in a share offering this year, which would make it the biggest stock sale in the Western Hemisphere in at least a decade.

Petrobras kept its output estimate for the pre-salt area unchanged at 1.18 million barrels a day in 2020. It lowered its forecast for production in foreign oil fields to 323,000 barrels a day in 2020 from 632,000 barrels.

The production targets don’t include output from projects Petrobras hasn’t started yet, such as the Franco oil field it plans to buy from the government in July with stock. The government said May 12 it found 4.5 billion barrels of recoverable light oil at Franco, the largest discovery since Petrobras found Tupi in 2007.

Petrobras will also have a minimum 30% stake in any new exploration license in Brazil, according to legislation the Senate approved this month. The corporation is also planning to its refining capacity to 3.2 million barrels per day by 2020, from about 1.8 million barrels a day at present.