MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petrobras keeps target of 2.5m bpd in 2016 and 4.2m bpd in 2020

The investment in the 2013/17 period is programmed at 236.7bn dollars

Brazilian state-controlled oil company Petrobras has unveiled its business plan for the 2013-2017 period projecting investment of 236.7 billion dollars and maintaining its goal of raising crude-oil output from 2 million barrels per day in 2012 to 4.2 million bpd in 2020.

The total value of the investments contained in the new plan is up just 0.08% from the $236.5 billion estimated for the 2012-2016 period.

The new plan was approved Friday by the company's board of directors.

Of the total investments, 207.1 billion are earmarked for ongoing projects and 29.6 billion for projects still in the evaluation phase.

About 62% of the funds (147.5b) will be allocated for exploration and production; 27% (64.8bn) for refining, transportation and distribution; and 4% (9.9bn) for the gas and energy segments.

Projected investments in exploration and production are 12% higher than the 131.6 billion indicated in the previous five-year plan, while the amount earmarked for refining, transportation and distribution is down 16% from 77.4bn in the 2012-2016 period.

The company said it has maintained the production targets contained in the previous five-year plan, meaning it is projecting crude-oil output of 2 million bpd in 2013, 2.5 million bpd in 2016, 2.75 million bpd in 2017 and 4.2 million bpd in 2020.