São Paulo – Petrobras disclosed yesterday (11) that it invested 53.4 billion Brazilian reals (US$ 23.4 billion) last year, a record figure and 18% over the total for 2007. Most of this money came from the exploration and production area, according to the company.
Exploration and production activities absorbed 26.2 billion reals (US$ 11.5 billion) in investment in 2008, growth of 26% over the previous year. The priority, according to the company, was the development of its capacity for production of oil and natural gas in Brazil.
The area in which investment grew most, however, was gas and energy. The investment, according to Petrobras, rose 50% over 2007, especially due to the expansion of the network of gas pipelines.
The supply sector, in turn, received 14% more funds in 2008. Funds were turned mainly to the improvement of the quality of the fuels traded by the company and to the greater processing of heavy oil in refineries.
*Translated by Mark Ament
