New president of Petrobras warns that the energy transition will be paid for by oil

The new president of PetrobrasMagda Chambriard, assumed her position this Wednesday and confirmed that the Brazilian state company will bet on a “fair energy transition“, although he clarified that “the check” of the new model will be paid for by oil.

“Petrobras is committed to a fair and inclusive energy transition”he declared Chambriard upon assuming office in a ceremony led by the Brazilian president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who highlighted the “social role” of “a thriving company that resisted so many attempts at dismantling and privatization”.

According to Lula, Petrobras has to “recover its role as an inducer of economic growth” and lead the development of new clean energies, for when the world “no longer depends on fossil fuels.”

In line with the agenda of the Lula Government, Chambriard announced that Petrobras will continue with plans to expand the “refining sector with environmental responsibility” and will promote new ““renewable energy fronts”among which he mentioned wind, solar and green hydrogen.

He also committed to “expand the availability of gas in the market” and investment in petrochemicals, with emphasis on the area of ​​fertilizer production, essential for the powerful Brazilian agriculture, but 70% of which comes from abroad.

However, he warned that “You cannot talk about energy transition without saying who will pay the bill”, which in his opinion can only be financed by oil.

Advance over the sea, even at the mouth of the Amazon

In that framework, Chambriard reaffirmed that Petrobras will increase its crude oil production, “with environmental responsibility”, even in controversial deposits that it intends to explore in the so-called Equatorial Margin, a sensitive area from an ecological point of view and located in the open sea, in front of the mouth of the Amazon River in the Atlantic.

According to Chambriardthe new management of Petrobras “will ensure good governance and robust business results“, with “the efficiency that the market expects from the company, with generation of economic value and responsibility”.

Chambriard66, is a chemical and civil engineer and developed a good part of her career at Petrobras, where she worked for two decades before moving on to the National Petroleum Agency, a regulatory body that she chaired between 2012 and 2016.

The new president of Petrobras replaces Jean Paul Prates, dismissed by Lula last month after months of friction with some executive ministers, especially due to divergences in the company’s dividend distribution policy.

The oil company, controlled by the State, operates as an open capital company and its shares are traded on the São Paulo, New York and Madrid stock exchanges.

It is a world leader in deep-water hydrocarbon production and extracts most of its production from offshore fields, especially along the extensive Brazilian coastline.

These fields are the origin of 97.5% of the 3.5 million barrels of oil it produces per day and 84% of the 153.9 million cubic meters of natural gas it extracts daily.