Brazilian state-controlled oil and gas producer Petrobras is in the market for renewable energy assets and will submit proposals to the company’s board “in the coming weeks,” according to CEO Jean Paul Prates.
The first transactions will consist of “two or three onshore renewable platforms with various partners,” he told reporters on the fringe of the Houston Offshore Technology Conference on Tuesday. Wind and solar assets are being considered, he said.
“They will be connected to future green hydrogen projects when scale permits,” Prates said.
Petrobras’s own offshore windfarm project in northeastern Brazil is expected to start in July, he added.
REFINING AMBITIONS
Petrobras executives have repeatedly said they want to diversify the company’s activities away from solely oil exploration and production. The administration of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is also very keen on Petrobras resuming investment in the petrochemical industry to reduce the country’s dependency on imported fuel.
Prates said Petrobras is currently negotiating the acquisition of a stake in the Mataripe refinery in the state of Bahia. The plant is owned by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, following its privatization in 2021.
He said Petrobras is also working with Mubadala on a biorefinery project.
Mubadala is willing to invest $13.5 billion in biofuels in Brazil, the Financial Times reported May 5.