Rio de Janeiro – Petrobras should end the year having raised between US$ 15 billion and US$ 16 billion in operations with national and international banks and institutions. "We have reached what we expected for the year," said the director of the area at the company, Almir Barbassa.
According to him, next year the company should once again raise funds on the international market, an operation that should be repeated over the next four years, according to the business plan. "We need to raise funds to amortize the debt to mature over the period and also to generate new funds the company needs to finance its investment plan," He pointed out that the best moment to collect funds is when money is not needed, "or else the risk rises and businessmen become concerned".
According to the director, the money that Petrobras has in the till, added to what will be generated by company operations, should be enough to cover investment in 2011. As the plan is for the long term, however, Petrobras has anticipated fundraising, he explained. Although the value has not yet been defined, investment in the plan should total around US$ 45 billion.
Barbassa pointed out that the Petrobras project does not need funds for 2011. The company is going on the market aiming at optimising maturity and cost. The financial director at Petrobras was honoured on Monday (13) with trophy O Equilibrista do Ano, granted to the best executive of 2010 by the Brazilian Finance Executive Institute of Rio de Janeiro.
*Translated by Mark Ament
