MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Petrobras will need to adjust policies to Lula's goals

Lula wants Petrobras to be in line with his administration's goals

Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva will make adjustments to the country's state-run oil company Petrobras once he takes office on Jan. 1, it was reported Thursday.

The Workers' Party (PT) leader vowed to modify the five-year investment plan announced Wednesday by Petrobras in order to change the future government's priorities, according to a spokesperson from Lula's transition team.

“A new plan will be made based on the strategic orientations and priorities of the representatives of the new government,” said Deyvid Bacelar, coordinator of the Federação Única dos Petroleros (FUP) and a member of Lula's team working on mines and energy issues.

Petrobras' current management rejected the transition team's request to delay for one month the approval of its strategic plan for the 2023-2027 period, which foresees investments worth US$ 78 billion, 15% higher than those announced in the previous plan (US$ 68 billion for 2022-2026) and also above average when compared to the last 5 plans (US$ 72 billion).

According to Petrobras, 82% of the investments (US$ 64 billion) will be allocated to oil and natural gas exploration and production projects, mainly in the Atlantic Ocean where large amounts of hydrocarbon reserves were detected.

Bacelar also heralded that Lula's administration will focus on Petrobras' refining capacity, in addition to energy-transition projects and investments in renewable energies, such as biofuel and offshore wind power. The spokesman also criticized Petrobras' refusal to suspend its current asset privatization process until the new administration is fully operational.