Petrobras is studying how to attract investment from Middle Eastern companies, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, that could secure more competitively priced gas for Brazil to expand nitrogen fertilizer production, company president Jean Paul Prates said.
The executive, which has commissioned studies on potential partnerships with Petrobras, estimates that investors could participate in a minority manner in the construction of new plants or the modernization of other business units in Brazil, while the state company could have a unit in Medium East, in a “cross investment”.
Petrobras seeks to facilitate the completion of a nitrogen fertilization unit in Mato Grosso do Sul, work on which has been halted for some years. The company still has nitrogen plants leased to Unigel, one of which is idle in Bahia.
Prates also does not rule out the possibility of Petrobras investing in the Middle East.
“We are talking about cross-investment due to fertilizers… We have gas, but ours is more expensive than theirs. What is the way to bring things together through mutual interest? Do a cross-investment,” Prates said. on the phone, directly from Dubai, where he was attending the COP 28 climate conference.
The executive explained that the commissioned studies should be ready at the beginning of 2024.
This eventual partnership with the Arabs was called Petrobras Arabia, Prates said.
In Dubai, asked about the possibility of Petrobras having a subsidiary in Saudi Arabia, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said the state company’s chief executive had a “fertile mind”, saying he was unaware of the project.
Prates, however, defended that “creating a business in another country is a commercial strategy”.
According to him, if the studies continue and translate into effective partnerships, the announcement will be made by President Lula.
The Petrobras CEO has already made two trips to the Middle East this year to participate in forums and took the opportunity to talk to local representatives about projects of interest to Brazil.
Source: Terra
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