Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras produces oil and gas, primarily engages in exploration and production, refining, energy generation and trading.
The company is committed to being the best energy company in terms of diversification, integration, and value generation, reconciling the focus on oil and gas with low carbon businesses. Accordingly, the company is adopting different strategies for the specific segments in which it operates, investing in the decarbonization of the company’s operati...
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras produces oil and gas, primarily engages in exploration and production, refining, energy generation and trading.
The company is committed to being the best energy company in terms of diversification, integration, and value generation, reconciling the focus on oil and gas with low carbon businesses. Accordingly, the company is adopting different strategies for the specific segments in which it operates, investing in the decarbonization of the company’s operations, in the generation of renewable energy, and in sustainable fuels. Furthermore, the company is expanding its research in the field of low carbon businesses.
The company seeks to build a more sustainable world, with the principles of safety, respect for the environment, and full attention to people’s needs, such as policies and implementation actions to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, in the countries where it operates, as well as the health, well-being, and physical and psychological safety of employees.
The company’s oil and natural gas exploration and production activities are the major components of its portfolio and include offshore and onshore exploration, appraisal, development, production, and incorporation of oil and natural gas reserves, producing oil and natural gas in a safe and profitable way.
The company’s activities are focused on deepwater and ultra-deepwater oil reservoirs in Brazil, which accounted for 98% of its total production in 2024. The company also has activities in mature fields in shallow waters and onshore, as well as outside Brazil.
As of December 31, 2024, the company had 232 blocks and fields in exploration and production, including 105 owned by consortia with other oil and gas companies in Brazil and other countries.
Exploration & Production Blocks and Fields
Like most major oil and gas companies, the company operates in partnerships using E&P consortia in the exploration of blocks and the production of oil fields in Brazil, mainly in ultra-deepwaters.
The company leads and operates E&P consortia that are responsible for some major projects under development, such as Mero, Atapu, Búzios, and Sépia.
These E&P consortia also comprise some of the biggest production fields in Brazil, such as Búzios, Tupi, Itapu, and Mero.
Other Basins
The company produces oil and gas and holds exploration acreage in 15 other basins in Brazil, such as Espírito Santo.
International
Outside Brazil, the company has E&P activities in South America, North America, and Africa. It has focused on opportunities to leverage the deepwater expertise it has developed in Brazil.
South America
The company conducts exploration and production activities in Argentina, Bolivia, and Colombia.
In Argentina, through the company’s subsidiary Petrobras Operaciones S.A., it has a 33.6% interest in the Rio Neuquén production asset. The company’s unconventional gas and condensate production is concentrated in the Neuquén Basin. In 2024, the company’s production of oil and gas in Argentina, including NGL, was 10.6 mboed.
In addition, in September 2024, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with YPF Sociedad Anónima, the company’s partner in Argentina, for joint discussions to explore possible business opportunities, technical, and technological cooperation in the E&P segment in that country. The agreement is non-binding and has a term of three years.
In Bolivia, the company produces gas and condensate primarily in the San Alberto and San Antonio fields, with a 35% interest in each of those service operation contracts, which are operated mainly to supply gas to Brazil and Bolivia. In 2024, the company’s production of oil and gas in Bolivia, including NGL, was 15.5 mboed.
In Colombia, the company operates and holds a 44.44% interest in the GUA-OFF-0 offshore exploration block, which encompasses the significant Sirius gas discovery. This operation is conducted through the company’s subsidiary, Petrobras International Braspetro B.V. - Sucursal Colombia (PIB-COL). The company’s partner, Ecopetrol S.A., holds the remaining 55.56% interest in this consortium.
Colombia Offshore
Natural gas production is expected to begin three years after obtaining the necessary environmental licenses and confirmation of the discovery’s commercial viability.
Petrobras’s share in these investments, through PIB-COL, is aligned with its Business Plan 2025-29.
This discovery marks a pivotal moment for Petrobras, reinforcing the company’s commitment to energy leadership, sustainable development, and value creation for both the company and Colombia.
North America
In the United States, the company focuses on deepwater fields in the Gulf of Mexico, where it has non-consolidated production from the 20% participation of Petrobras America Inc. in the company’s joint venture with Murphy Exploration & Production Company, MPGOM LLC. The main production fields are Saint Malo, Dalmatian, Lucius, and Chinook. In 2024, the company’s participation represented a production of 7.54 mboed, including NGL.
Africa
In February 2024, the company concluded the acquisition of interests in three exploratory blocks in the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, and in October 2024, it approved the acquisition of participation in the DWOB block in the Republic of South Africa, whose conclusion is subject to the approval of the local regulatory bodies.
Exploration
The company concentrates its efforts in Brazil, where the Brazilian State owns the oil deposits, but companies and consortia are allowed to extract and explore such oil upon payment in several forms, such as royalties. Forms of payment differ, depending on the applied regulatory model. Bidding rounds are the main process for the acquisition of rights over the exploratory blocks.
There are three regulatory models in Brazil: Concession Agreements, Transfer of Rights Agreements, and Production Sharing Agreements. The Concession model fully governed the oil and natural gas exploration and production until 2010, when the Brazilian federal government enacted laws establishing the Transfer of Rights regime and the Production Sharing regime in the Pre-salt Polygon.
Exploration Activities
As of December 31, 2024, the company had 73 exploratory blocks. It serves as the operator in 63 of the exploration partnership blocks.
In 2024, the company’s exploratory efforts were concentrated on evaluating opportunities in the Santos Basin and in the Potiguar Basin, with the following highlights.
Santos Basin
In February 2025, the company confirmed the presence of oil in the field. Tests conducted from a depth of 5,600 meters confirmed the presence of oil reservoirs through electrical profiles, which will later be characterized through laboratory analyses.
Equatorial Margin
In 2024, the company concluded the drilling of the Pitu Oeste well (BM-POT-17 block) and Anhangá well (POT-M-762_R15 block), in the Potiguar Basin, and identified the presence of hydrocarbons on both wells. Such discoveries are under evaluation, aiming to assess the quality of the reservoirs, the characteristics of the oil, and the technical-commercial viability of the accumulation.
Other Basins
In 2024, the company concluded the acquisition of 29 blocks in the Pelotas Basin. It has a 70% interest in 26 of them (in partnership with Shell), and a 50% interest in three (in partnership with Shell, 30%, and CNOOC, 20%). The company also started the seismic acquisition campaign in the Pelotas Basin.
Pelotas Basin
Other Countries
Following the 2022 discovery in the Wildcat Well Sirius -1 in Colombia, the company is planning more exploratory activities in this country. It, as operator, in partnership with Ecopetrol, intensified the company’s exploratory activities in the GUA-OFF-0 block and confirmed the most significant natural gas discovery in the offshore of Colombia, after the drilling of the Sirius-2 well.
In Argentina, the company concluded two exploratory wells in 2024 in the Neuquen Basin.
In the African continent, the company has acquired interests in three exploration blocks in the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, and approved the acquisition of participation in one block in the Republic of South Africa, subject to the approval of the local regulatory bodies.
E&P Strategic Programs Highlights
PROD1000
In 2024, the PROD1000 strategic program, which began in 2019, concluded all the initiatives planned by the program related to exploration and reservoir development integration, project design standardization, processes optimization and parallelization, and early engagement with suppliers. As a result, PROD1000 has brought viable alternatives to potentially reduce the initial production development schedule to first oil.
The program has also delivered one patent, implemented three new digital tools, provided over six technical specifications for different equipment, and implemented several process improvements in corporate standards within the E&P.
Despite the conclusion of PROD1000, the gains from the program will continue to be incorporated into the company’s projects through a routine monitoring process across its project portfolio, in alignment with its Strategic Plan.
EXP100
After five years, EXP100, the Exploration strategic program, was concluded in 2024, achieving remarkable results. The program focused on data and AI democratization, leading to the development of 53 digital solutions that effectively improved the integration and access to technical information.
A major milestone for the program was the advancement in High-Performance Computing (HPC) for the company, significantly reducing seismic processing time and enhancing computational capacity to improve geophysical data processing.
Additionally, digital transformation was accelerated through the creation of 47 interactive dashboards, enabling greater agility and accuracy in analysis and decision-making. Altogether, 107 technological solutions were developed, substantially improving exploration processes and reducing uncertainties and costs.
Following the conclusion of the EXP100 program, a new strategic program, starting in 2025, will be developed to align the company’s updated exploration strategies, reflecting the company’s technological advancements and priorities to address future challenges and lead the energy transition.
Production
Production Development
After a field is declared commercially viable, the process of production development begins. The investments made in this phase are mainly focused on designing and contracting production systems, which includes platforms, subsea systems, drilling, and the completion of wells.
The company is also continuously working to automate operations with a consequent reduction in exposure to risk. It has reached a plateau in Well Construction Cost using current technologies, with the company’s performance remaining relatively stable with a maximum variation of 8% relative to the five-year average, which is 40% lower than the 2018–2019 baseline.
In the context of subsea systems, the company’s investments in research and development seek to provide tools to identify failure mechanisms more accurately and swiftly, increasing the reliability of operations. New inspection technologies have been widely used and contribute to the integrity of subsea systems, especially those pipelines susceptible to CO2-induced corrosion. Also, the use of digital technologies, such as the Digital Twin for Stress Corrosion Cracking (‘SCC-CO2’) and fatigue, has been intensified, making a significant contribution to the life extension of pipelines. In 2024, the company reduced subsea SCC-CO2 production losses by 48.5% when compared to the forecast, through inspection campaigns on flexible pipes and engineering for life extension. The company continues to implement initiatives, such as expanding the supplier base to develop special tools and flexible pipes immune to the effect of corrosion.
Wells and subsea systems KPIs are used as inputs for critical analysis of the interventions operational performance and for the strategic evaluation of business performance.
As the company relates to platforms, the All Electric Design was finished in 2022 for the Pre-salt FPSOs, aiming for higher efficiency and lower GHG emissions, representing the new generation of its FPSOs. For these units, the oil production capacity is 225 mbbl/d and 353.9 mmcf/d of gas. The Sépia 2 and Atapu 2 FPSO bids incorporate the All Electric Design, and the contracting process was finalized in the first half of 2024.
In the third quarter of 2024, the company finished the P-86 basic design for the revitalization of the Marlim Leste and Marlim Sul fields, which included the first combined cycle of a Petrobras-owned unit, a technology that combines gas and steam turbines to increase efficiency in energy generation, resulting in lower emissions. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the FPSO Maria Quitéria started operating in the Integrado Parque das Baleias (IPB) field with the first combined cycle in a leasing unit of Petrobras.
The company invests in technological solutions, which combined with the transition to a low-carbon global economy, focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In the last three years, the company has installed eight major systems, mainly in the Santos Basin Pre-salt area. In 2024, it started the FPSO Maria Quitéria, located in the Parque das Baleias area, and the FPSO Marechal Duque de Caxias, located in the Mero field.
As a result, in 2024, the company owned 29 and leased 20 offshore producing platforms. Besides these offshore platforms, there are two storage and offloading units and five supporting units, totaling 56 active platforms.
In 2024, the company’s producing platforms had a daily production of 2,162 million barrels of oil and 3,010.5 million cubic feet of natural gas (discounting the liquefied volume), with the highlight being FPSO Sepetiba, which reached its maximum production capacity in September 2024. Three of the company’s FPSOs reached their maximum production capacity in 2023: Guanabara, Almirante Barroso, and P-71.
Decommissioning
The company is committed to its assets after the end of their productive life. It works to extend the life cycle of its assets, focusing on increasing the recovery factor and maximizing the value of the E&P portfolio. Once all possibilities for extending the productive life have been exhausted, the company begins the stage of allocating the asset, through reuse and/or recycling.
Once the need for decommissioning has been confirmed, the company plans in accordance with the applicable legal requirements, including environmental regulations, and considers studies and guidelines on the best practices of the oil and gas industry worldwide. Therefore, the company follows strict safety standards and analyzes project alternatives based on multidisciplinary criteria (environmental, technical, security, social, and economic), in the planning process, which allows it to select the decommissioning alternative that generates less impact. This decommissioning plan is approved by regulatory bodies before it is carried out.
Since 2023, when the company concluded the first auctions for the sale of platforms P-32 and P-33, both from Campos basins, it has been adopting ESG best practices in the company’s decommissioning process. These sales processes have stipulated several technical criteria and requirements for bidders. The shipyards have required an operating license that explicitly includes dismantling activities, and an installed capacity for the temporary storage and handling of materials, with a contingency and emergency plan, in addition to following best practices in occupational safety.
Thus, the P-32 platform is currently undergoing dismantling at the Rio Grande Shipyard, and in 2024, the P-33 was hooked out and transferred to the berthing area at the Port of Açu. In the same year, the P-26 platform was also hooked out and directed to the Port of Açu, where it remains berthed while awaiting its final destination. Additionally, in 2024, the FPSO Capixaba, chartered from SBM, was unmoored and sent by its shipowner to the MARS Shipyard in Denmark, in the same manner as the FPSO Fluminense, a vessel owned and operated by Shell in partnership with Petrobras. Both followed a sustainable model and complied with the Basel Convention.
Throughout the entire recycling process, the company monitors the execution of the plans to ensure compliance with the technical criteria mentioned.
In 2024, continuing the development and expanding the application of the models, the company sold and disposed of 40 thousand tons of flexible lines for recycling, with a focus on operational storage efficiency and sustainability. In addition, it established new criteria for the disposal of 36 thousand tons of ferrous scrap, with a process focused on emission reduction gains for the steel mills and foundries’ process chain, requiring disposal in electric furnaces.
Critical Resources in Exploration & Production
The company seeks to procure, develop, and retain all of the critical resources that are necessary to meet its production targets. Drilling rigs, special vessels, supply vessels, and helicopters are important resources for its exploration and production operations and are centrally coordinated to assure both technical specifications and proper lead time.
To achieve the company’s production goals, it has also secured a number of specialized vessels (such as Pipe Laying Support Vessel - PLSVs) to connect wells to production systems. As of December 31, 2024, the company had 14 PLSVs in use. Similarly to the rigs, the company intends to adjust its fleet size as needed.
The supply of goods and transport of people is also important to achieve the company’s exploration and production goals. By sea, it transports materials and chemical products. By air, it transports its most important assets: people. Both materials and people are transported on a daily basis so that the exploration and production of oil and gas are orchestrated in the most continuous way possible, maintaining the quality and level of services.
In 2024, the company delivered more than three million tons of materials and transported over one million passengers to its platforms all over the Brazilian coast. To accomplish these results, it also has a secure number of supply vessels (such as Platform Supply Vessels or ‘PSV’) and helicopters. As of December 31, 2024, the company had 89 PSVs and 90 helicopters, and both its fleets were sufficient to meet its needs.
Production
In 2024, the company’s total production of oil and gas, including NGL, was 2,698 mboed, of which 2,664 mboed were produced in Brazil, and 33.6 mboed were produced abroad, a 3% decrease compared to 2023. This production decline was mostly due to production restrictions on Post-salt platforms.
The company’s production in the Pre-salt layer reached 1,813 mbbl/d in 2024, representing an increase of 0.4% in relation to its production in 2023. In 2024, the oil production in the Pre-salt layer represented 84.2% of all oil production in Brazil, compared to 80.9% in 2023.
Pre-salt oil production increased by 0.4%, reflecting the ramp-up of the FPSOs Sepetiba, Almirante Barroso, Anita Garibaldi, Marechal Duque de Caxias, and Maria Quitéria. The Pre-salt area comprises large accumulations of light oil of excellent quality and high commercial value. The Post-salt oil production in deep and ultra-deepwaters decreased by 20%, due to production restrictions on platforms during the year and the natural decline of production.
Shallow water and onshore oil production decreased by 21%, to 34 mbbl/d, due to divestments, decommissioning, and the natural decline of production.
Customers
The company’s domestic and overseas portfolio includes approximately 70 clients, such as refiners that process or have processed Brazilian oils regularly, distributed throughout the Americas, Europe, and Asia, including China.
Oil Clients
In 2024, the company remained one of the most important exporters of low sulfur fuel oil in the world, even with an increased participation of the high-sulfur grade in the company’s portfolio. The company’s fuel oil is available in the major hubs in the market, such as Singapore, Arab Gulf, the Mediterranean, and Northwest Europe, the west coast of Africa, Panama, the Caribbean, and China. The company’s counterparties list consists of major companies, trading companies, and barging companies. The company has sold fuel oil to more than 20 different companies this year.
In the exploration and production industry, the company faces competition to gain access to new exploratory assets. In Brazil, the bidding rounds conducted by the ANP are auctions through which the Brazilian federal government grants the right to explore and produce oil and natural gas.
In 2022, nine operators purchased 59 concessions for exploratory blocks in the 3rd cycle of the Open Acreage of the Concession Bidding Round.
In 2023, 13 operators purchased 192 concessions for exploratory blocks in the 4th cycle of the Open Acreage of Concession Bidding Round. Petrobras is one of these operators, with 29 exploratory blocks. One operator purchased one block in the 2nd Cycle of the Open Acreage Production Sharing Modality (Petrobras did not participate in this cycle).
The company discovers new areas through exploratory activity. Such areas constitute the company’s fields after the declaration of commerciality. The company then prepares a development plan for each field.
Most of the company’s investments relate to long-term development projects, which are developed in phases due to the large volumes and extensions involved, the deep and ultra-deepwater infrastructure, and the production resources complexity.
Refining, Transportation & Marketing
The company processed 69% of all its oil production, which includes oil and LNG and excludes Natural Gasoline (C5+), in its refineries. In 2024, the company produced 1,783 mbbl/d of oil products from the processing of Brazilian oil (91% of feedstock) and imported oil (9% of feedstock). The company traded these oil products both in Brazil and abroad.
Furthermore, the company operates in the petrochemical sector with interests in companies and in the fertilizer sector with interests and plants in Brazil.
The company owns and operates 10 refineries in Brazil, with a total net crude distillation capacity of 1,813 mbbl/d. This represents 83% of all refining capacity in Brazil, according to the 2024 statistical yearbook published by the ANP. Most of the company’s refineries are located near its crude oil pipelines, storage facilities, refined product pipelines, and major petrochemical facilities, easing access to crude oil supplies and end-users.
The company also operates a large and complex infrastructure of pipelines and terminals, and a shipping fleet to transport oil products and crude oil to Brazilian and global markets. It operates 36 of its own terminals through its wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Transporte S.A. (‘Transpetro’), and it has contracts for the use of some of the storage capacity of 17 third-party terminals, while Transpetro operates nine other third-party terminals.
In 2019, the company signed two agreements with CADE related to the divestment of some of its refining assets in Brazil (REMAN, LUBNOR, RNEST, RLAM, REGAP, REPAR, and REFAP) and a shale industrialization unit (SIX).
In 2024, following the strategic direction presented in the Strategic Plan 2024-2028+ in force at that time, CADE agreed to sign an amendment through which new obligations were set regarding the activities carried out by the company in the supply of oil and oil products to third parties in Brazil, replacing the previous commitment of divesting the refining and shale industrialization assets.
Refining
The company serves its oil products clients in Brazil through a coordinated combination of oil processing, importing, and exporting that, according to its commercial strategy, seeks to optimize its margins, considering different opportunity costs of domestic and imported oil, oil products in the different markets, as well as the costs of related transport, storage, and processing.
In 2024, the company processed 1,706 mbbl/d of oil in its 10 refineries. The following graphs show the processed feedstock and the performance of its refineries.
One such investment is the implementation of a new diesel hydrotreatment unit at the Paulínia Refinery (‘REPLAN’), currently in the process of construction and assembling equipment and installations.
With this project, REPLAN is expected to be able to produce 100% ultra-low sulfur diesel (the ‘ULSD’ or the ‘S-10’) and increase the production of jet fuel, aiming to meet the specifications and quantities demanded by the future market, in an economic way, with operational safety and lower impacts to the environment.
The new diesel hydrotreatment unit is expected to have a production capacity of 63 mbbl/d of S-10 and is scheduled to start operation in 2025, in line with the Strategic Plan.
Oil Products Production
In 2024, compared to 2023, there was an increase in the production of gasoline (4.2%), jet fuel (3.6%), and asphalt (4.4%), due to domestic demand growth and supported by high results in refineries availability, reliability, and performance. In 2024, the company achieved the annual record in Diesel S-10 production, increased by 5.1% from 2023.
Logistics
Oil and oil products logistics connect the oil production systems to refineries and markets seeking to maximize the value of oil refining operations and the commercialization of oil and oil products in Brazil and abroad through an integrated system of logistics planning, sales, and operations and assets.
The company directly manages some assets of this system, while it contracts others with its wholly-owned subsidiary Transpetro.
Transpetro is a logistics company that performs operations for storing and handling oil and oil products, ethanol, gas, and biofuels for the supply of Brazilian industries, thermoelectric plants, and oil refineries, including import and export activities.
The terminals and pipelines operation is an important link in its supply chain. The oil is transported from the production fields to Transpetro terminals by pipeline or ship. From there, it is transported to refineries or for export. After refining, the oil products are drained through pipelines to the terminals to be delivered to fuel distribution companies, which supply the Brazilian and global markets. This operation covers a 7,768 km pipeline network and 45 terminals, of which 24 are marine and 21 are onshore (including the operation of Transbel, a fully-owned subsidiary of Transpetro, established due to the obligation of auctioning public port areas). Transpetro operates terminals owned by Petrobras and third parties, with a total nominal storage capacity of 10.73 million m³. In 2024, Transpetro handled 651 million m³ of oil, oil products, and biofuels, totaling 6,143 operations with tankers and oil barges.
The company moves oil and oil products, whether by cabotage or long-haul navigation, in response to the demands of its customers. The fleet operated by Transpetro comprises 33 vessels (26 of which Transpetro owns and seven of which it contracts through the subsidiary Transpetro International BV), and this operating fleet has an average age of ten years. The transport capacity of this fleet is 3.2 million deadweight tons. In 2024, this fleet handled around 46.6 million m³ of oil and oil products, about 23% of the cargo handled by Petrobras by sea.
In addition, the company operates 78 ships chartered directly by Petrobras from third parties. This operation has the capacity to transport 5.5 million deadweight tons and, in 2024, handled 177.0 million m³.
The company is constantly looking for excellence in the integrity of its assets and operational efficiency.
The operational efficiency of Transpetro’s fleet, represented by the Operational Availability Index (which calculates the proportion of time the vessel was operationally ready, excluding the time spent in dry dock), was 99.2% in 2024.
Fuel theft in onshore pipelines
The engagement between Petrobras and Transpetro in 2024 remains a determining factor for considerable advancement in combating fuel theft actions in the company’s pipeline network, also known as illegal tapping. This partnership resulted in actions that ensured its commitment to life, the environment, and operational safety.
The company has continued strengthening its relationship with Brazil’s public security forces, tightening ties with neighboring communities in its pipeline networks, expanding awareness and social projects, and investing in the improvement of technological tools, aimed at greater effectiveness in preventing illegal tapping.
Marketing
Diesel and Gasoline
The company has a commercial strategy in place since 2023 to define its diesel and gasoline prices, replacing the former pricing policy. The commercial strategy considers market references, such as the customer’s alternative cost, as a value to be prioritized in pricing, and its marginal value. The customer’s alternative cost refers to the cost of the main supply alternatives, whether the same or substitute products, and the marginal value is based on the opportunity cost given the various alternatives for the company, among them, production, imports, and exports of the product and/or the oils used in refining. The commercial strategy is premised on competitive prices per sales hub, in balance with the national and international markets, taking into account the best alternative accessible to customers. This strategy allows the company to compete more efficiently, taking into account its market share, optimize its refining assets, and obtain profitability on a sustainable basis.
Price readjustments are expected to continue to be made without a defined periodicity, avoiding the transfer to domestic prices of the cyclical volatility of international prices and of the exchange rate to domestic prices.
LPG
LPG prices in the Brazilian market are defined taking into account the balance with the international prices and the level of market share, in the residential and industrial/commercial LPG segments. According to the company’s pricing policy, price adjustments are made without defined periodicity, according to market conditions and analysis of internal and external environments.
Imports, Exports, and International Sales
The company’s import and export of crude and oil products are driven by economic factors involving its domestic refining, the Brazilian demand levels, and international prices. Most of the crude oil the company produces in Brazil is classified as medium API Gravity. The company imports some light crude oil to balance the slate for its refineries and exports mainly medium crude oil from its production in Brazil. In addition, the company continues to import oil products in order to balance any shortfall between production from its Brazilian refineries and the market demand for each product.
In 2024, net exports increased by 14 mbbl/d, reaching 499 mbbl/d. This increase resulted mainly from lower imports of oil products in 2024, mainly gasoline, due to increased production with higher utilization of refineries in the year 2024.
The company’s crude oil, oil products, and LNG trading activities aim to meet its internal demands or potential business opportunities identified by its commercial teams, seeking to optimize the buying and selling operations in the Brazilian and global markets, as well as offshore operations.
The international trading teams are based in the major global commercial hubs of oil and oil products, such as Houston, Singapore, Buenos Aires, and Rotterdam, and are comprised of crude oil, oil products, and biofuels traders, LNG, shipping, and support operators.
Distribution
The company sells its oil products to several distribution companies in Brazil.
A 10-year trademark license agreement is in place and grants Vibra a non-exclusive, paid, temporary license on certain trademarks the company owns, including but not limited to ‘Petrobras,’ ‘Petrobras Podium,’ ‘Petrobras Premmia,’ ‘De Olho no Combustível,’ ‘BR Aviation,’ and ‘Petrobras Grid.’ The contract expires in June 2029 and must comply with the established debranding obligations.
The company also participates in the retail sector in other South American countries, as follows:
Colombia: The company’s operations through Petrobras Colombia Combustibles S.A. (PECOCO) include 121 service stations and a lubricant plant with a production capacity of 54,000 m³/year. PECOCO was in Petrobras' divestment portfolio until March 2025 when the company’s Executive Board approved the termination of the divestment project, in line with the current strategic drivers, which consider portfolio diversification both profitable and sustainable for the company;
Chile: Following the sale of the company’s distribution operations in Chile, which was concluded in January 2017, the company entered into a brand licensing agreement in that country, for the initial term of eight years. To operate the company’s acquired assets in Chile, Southern Cross created Esmax, a company that operates as its licensee in the fuel distribution segment. In July 2024, after the sale of Esmax from Southern Cross to Aramco, Petrobras and Esmax reached an agreement to extend the contract term until December 31, 2025; and
Paraguay: Following the sale of the company’s distribution operations in Paraguay, which was concluded in 2019, the company entered into a brand licensing agreement in Paraguay for the exclusive use of the company’s brands, for the initial term of five years. The parties have approved an extension of the contract term through 2026.
Customers
The company interacts with 485 clients in Brazil, in regard to liquid and solid products, seven of which account for 66% of the total volume sold.
The company offers a virtual commercial platform, called Canal Cliente, to Brazilian market companies. The platform works 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Other Activities
Petrochemicals
In 2023, the company received a letter regarding the non-binding proposal for the acquisition of Novonor S.A.’s interest in Braskem. The information was forwarded to the company due to the fact that it is Braskem’s second largest shareholder and a party to the shareholders’ agreement, which contains Tag Along and ROFR provisions. During the second semester of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, the company conducted the due diligence process, but the interested company and Novonor didn't reach an agreement for the potential transaction. The company remains vigilant and prepared for any potential corporate movements concerning Novonor's stake in Braskem.
Fertilizers
The company has three fertilizer plants in Brazil, one located in the state of Bahia (FAFEN-BA), one in the state of Sergipe (FAFEN-SE), and one through the company’s subsidiary located in Paraná, Araucaria Nitrogenados S.A. (ANSA), that has been mothballed since January 2020. Their main products are ammonia and urea. Together, these plants have an installed capacity of 1.852 million t/year of urea, 1.406 million t/y of ammonia, 319,000 t/y of ammonium sulfate, and 800,000 t/y of Automotive Liquid Reducing Agent (ARLA-32).
The company also has an unfinished Nitrogen Fertilizer Unit (UFN-III) in Mato Grosso do Sul. The construction of UFN-III began in September 2011, but was halted in December 2014, with about 81% of the physical construction completed. In October 2024, the company decided to resume the implementation of the UFN-III, with operations expected to commence in 2028.
Since 2020, after being mothballed in 2019, the company’s plants located in Bahia and Sergipe have been leased to Proquigel Química S.A. (the ‘Proquigel Química’), a company of the Unigel Group for an initial term of 10 years, which may be extended for an additional 10 years.
In December 2023, the company signed a contract with Proquigel Química for custom industrialization (tolling) for the production of nitrogen fertilizers in plants located in the states of Sergipe and Bahia. However, as the conditions for its effectiveness were not met within the established period, the tolling agreement did not enter into effect.
Following the strategic guidelines of the Strategic Plan 2024-2028+ in force at that time, in which investment in fertilizer production has once again become part of the company’s portfolio, reaffirmed in the Business Plan 2025-29, in June 2024, the company approved the resumption of operating activities of ANSA and the starting of all procedures required for the reopening of the plant.
In 2024, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding and a Master Agreement with Yara Brasil Fertilizantes S.A. (the ‘Yara’), to study and structure potential commercial partnerships in the fertilizer segment, production of industrial products, and decarbonization of production. As a result of these understandings, in November 2024, the company signed two temporary agreements with Yara. The first agreement is a contract between Petrobras, Yara, and ANSA for the production of ARLA 32 at ANSA using urea supplied by Yara. Yara will be responsible for the commercialization of fertilizers.
The second agreement is a technical cooperation agreement between Petrobras and Yara for the development of joint studies of fertilizers and industrial products, as well as energy transition efforts linked to decarbonization projects and the production of renewable and low-carbon fertilizers.
The company thus reinforces its commitment to leading the transformation and driving a sustainable, fair, and safe energy transition.
Gas & Low Carbon Energies
The company processes gas produced in its oil fields in its UPGNs that have the capacity to treat 97 million m³/d of natural gas in Brazil. The company markets this natural gas, along with gas imported from Bolivia and LNG acquired in the global market, to several consumers and to the thermoelectric plants.
The company also operates in power generation through thermal power plants fired by natural gas and diesel oil, and in the commercialization of electric energy.
The Gas & Low Carbon Energies segment strategy is to act in a competitive and integrated manner in the operation and commercialization of gas and energy, optimize the portfolio, and increase the insertion of renewable sources.
Natural Gas
The company’s natural gas operations consist of, among other things, gas processing, transportation, and LNG regasification.
Processing of Natural Gas
Natural gas from the company’s Exploration & Production segment needs to be processed in processing units to be transformed into marketable products. These products serve as fuel and raw material for different uses, such as transportation, industrial and residential uses, as well as in the fertilizer industry and thermoelectric power generation.
The company’s UPGNs are located in the states of Amazonas, Ceará, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, and São Paulo in Brazil, as well as in Bolivia, where it has the capacity to process natural gas in its gaseous and condensed forms.
In November 2024, the UPGN located at the Boaventura Energy Complex (UTGITB) entered commercial operation, with authorization to produce 10.5 million m³/d of gas. In 2025, the forecast is to expand this authorization to the UPGN’s total processing capacity, which amounts to 21 million m³/d of gas.
Logistics
The company uses a pipeline system to transport natural gas from processing plants, regasification terminals, and the border with Bolivia, to the local distributors, free consumers, as well as for the internal consumption of its units. Brazil has an integrated pipeline system centered around two main interlinked pipeline networks, a gas pipeline connection with Bolivia, and an isolated pipeline in the northern region of Brazil (all together spanning over 9,190 km).
In addition, outside Brazil, the company holds an 11% interest in GTB, which is responsible for the Bolivian side of the Bolivia-Brazil gas pipeline, measuring 557 km.
Marketing and Sales
The total demand for natural gas in 2024 was 47.5 million m³/d.
The volume of the company’s natural gas consumption by industrial, gas-fired electric power generation, system use gas, commercial, and retail customers was 36.6 million m³/d, representing a decrease of approximately 7% compared to 2023. This decrease is mainly attributable to a reduction in non-thermoelectric demand.
In 2024, the consumption of natural gas by the company’s refineries was 10.9 million m³/d.
Gas & Energy + Program
In July 2019, the company signed an agreement with CADE to increase competition in the natural gas industry in Brazil, which among other matters included the sale of shareholdings in gas transportation and distribution companies. In 2021, Law No. 14,134, known as the New Gas Law, that set the basis for a profound reform of the Brazilian Gas Market was promulgated. As a result of the agreement with CADE and the New Gas Law, according to information provided by the ANP, in 2024 around 16 new players became holders of about 29% of the non-thermoelectric Brazilian natural gas market.
Given the strategic direction presented in the Strategic Plan 2024-2028+, in force at that time, the company formally requested a review of the agreement signed with CADE. The agreement was signed in July 2024, releasing Petrobras from divesting TBG.
In 2023, the GAS+ Program was renamed as the Gas & Energy + Program (also called ‘Gas and Power Plus Program’ and ‘G&E+’), reinforcing actions aimed at the gas business and including actions focused on the energy business.
The G&E+ aims to strengthen the company’s competitive position in the natural gas open market. This program focuses on offering the best customer relationship experience and developing and delivering products with commercial conditions adherent to customers’ needs, to achieve the established market share and profitability goals. It includes initiatives, such as the launch of new commercial products, new forms of customer relationships, and digital tools (such as digital contracts and sales through automated platforms), as well as actions in the field of regulation and new business models (such as alignment of regulatory procedures for the review of the Unit Variable Cost (UVC), thermal, and LNG market).
Throughout 2024, several G&E+ initiatives were implemented.
Natural gas sales contracts and long-term gas purchase and transportation commitments
The company sells its gas primarily to local gas distribution companies, free industrial consumers, and gas-powered plants, generally based on standard take-or-pay, long-term supply contracts. Free consumers are consumers that, if eligible, can freely negotiate their natural gas purchases from multiple suppliers instead of buying directly from a single distribution company. The price formulas under these contracts are mostly aligned with Brent oil prices, LNG price markers (Henry Hub and Japan Korea Marker), and the U.S. dollar. They were negotiated under the new gas law.
In 2024, the company offered customers new products with flexible contractual conditions, allowing them to build their own portfolio: inclusion of Henry Hub, a gas-to-gas indexer, in addition to the Brent indexer; diversified contractual terms, ranging from four to 10 years; and two location options for delivering natural gas: at the hub in which the company is responsible for contracting the entry into the transport system and the customer is responsible for contracting the exit, or at the delivery point (city-gate) in which the company is responsible for contracting the entry and exit of transport.
In addition, the company offered customers two different types of mechanisms for the market to reach more competitive price levels and increase overall natural gas demand:
Performance Mechanism (only offered to local gas distribution companies): customers receive a price reduction of up to 11% of the Brent indexer for quantities between 60% and 100% of the contracted volume.
Demand Incentive Mechanism: customers receive a price reduction of up to 10% of the Brent indexer for quantities between 90% and 100% of the contracted volume.
In addition to this diversification and flexibility, the company’s commercial conditions seek to make the competitive environment and the market opening process more dynamic by enabling, among others, the reduction of volumes contracted by distributors in the event of migration of volumes from captive customers to the free environment.
As a result, new contracts and contractual amendments were signed with 15 local distribution companies and free industrial consumers, totaling 1.6 MM m³/d of additional contracted volume to be delivered in 2025.
The Brazilian natural gas market is becoming increasingly competitive, as new suppliers gain access to local distribution companies and, more importantly, to industrial customers. This shift is driven by recent reforms in the legal and regulatory frameworks in Brazil, along with the company’s initiatives that facilitated new suppliers to access the natural gas market (e.g., new contracts to allow new suppliers access to its natural gas processing units and gas pipelines).
In this context, some industrial customers exercised the option to buy natural gas directly from suppliers (including, in some cases, Petrobras); therefore, the volume contracted by Petrobras with local distribution companies was reduced by 5 MM m³/d in 2025 due to the migration of these industrial customers to the free natural gas market. In addition, another 1.5 MM m³/d were reduced after some of the distribution companies exercised a contractual option required by Resolution nº 03/2022 of the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE).
As of December 31, 2024, Petrobras’ total commitment of natural gas contracted to be delivered in 2025 is 25 MM m³/d, including contracts with distribution companies and other industrial clients signed in previous years.
On October 10, 2024, the company entered into a settlement agreement with Gás de Alagoas S.A. – ALGÁS to cease the existing legal disputes initiated in 2022.
When the company started building the GASBOL in 1996, it entered into a Long-term Gas Supply Agreement (‘GSA’) with the Bolivian state-owned company YPFB to purchase certain minimum volumes of natural gas, which were based on an average delivery-or-pay commitment of 30 mmm³/d, at prices indexed to global fuel oil prices.
The supply of gas under the GSA began on July 1, 1999. The contractual balance volumes agreed upon since December 31, 2023, indicate a potential extension of the term of the contract to February 2028, if delivery or pay conditions are met, or October 2029, if take-or-pay withdraw volumes are taken into account.
Regarding transport contracts, the company has signed agreements with GTB, which operates the transmission network in Bolivia, connecting Bolivian gas production to the Brazilian border, and TBG, TAG, and NTS, which operate the Brazilian transmission network. The contracts have different durations, some of which are long-term.
Power
Brazilian electricity needs are mainly met by hydroelectric power plants and other sources of energy (wind, solar, coal, nuclear, fuel oil, diesel oil, natural gas used in thermoelectrics, and others). The regulatory framework of the electric energy market in Brazil comprises two trading environments: the Free Marketing Environment (ACL) and the Regulated Marketing Environment (ACR).
Hydroelectric power plants' output is dependent on the annual level of rainfall. When rainfall is abundant, Brazilian hydroelectric power plants generate more electricity. As a result, under these circumstances, there is less demand for power generation by thermoelectric power plants.
The company generates and sells electric power from a generator complex consisting of 13 thermoelectric power plants that it owns or leases, operating under the authorization regime as an independent power producer. They are powered by natural gas or diesel, with a total installed capacity of 4,910 MW. These plants are designed to be dispatched by the ONS whenever necessary, in order to supplement power from the hydroelectric power plants and, in more recent years, also from wind and photovoltaic solar power plants.
In 2024, the total electricity generated in Brazil, according to the ONS, was 79,116 GWavg. The company’s thermoelectric power plants contributed 751 MWavg. This increase in total generated electricity was due to a growing demand from the system related to peak load.
In addition, the company holds participation in other projects of power generation representing 82 MW in its electricity generation capacity.
The company also has some investments in renewable power generation sources in Brazil. It owns a solar power pilot plant, Alto do Rodrigues Photovoltaic Unit, with 1 MW of solar capacity.
Low Carbon Energies
In 2024, the company’s Natural Gas & Low Carbon Energies value proposition is to operate in a competitive and integrated manner in the operation and commercialization of gas and energy, optimizing the portfolio and promoting the inclusion of renewable sources, as well as to operate in low carbon business, diversifying the portfolio in a profitable way and promoting its sustainability.
The company expects to expand its operations in low carbon business, with a focus especially on:
Bioproducts: to operate preferentially in partnership with large companies in the production and commercialization of low carbon fuels and products, including the chains of ethanol, biodiesel, and biogas, aiming to meet market demands while developing actions for adequate access to raw materials.
Low carbon emission hydrogen: to operate in the production of low carbon emission hydrogen and its derivatives, focusing on the decarbonization of the company’s operations, products, and business development to meet market demand.
Renewable generation: to operate preferentially in partnership with large companies in the sector, aiming for the decarbonization of the company’s operations, integration of the low carbon solutions portfolio, and capturing market opportunities in Brazil.
CCUS: decarbonization of the company’s operations in an integrated manner with the company’s assets, while providing services to third parties seeking profitability.
In 2024, the company signed 33 non-binding legal instruments in the renewable energy sector, with companies and governments in Brazil, Denmark, China, and Argentina, as it aims to work together with major players to jointly evaluate opportunities.
Some of these non-binding legal instruments include Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) and Protocols of Intent signed with companies and governments to explore new technologies, business opportunities, and partnerships in decarbonization, low-carbon fuels, hydrogen, carbon capture and storage (CCUS), renewable energy, and energy transition. With these cooperation agreements legal instruments, the company intends to leverage the implementation of an e-methanol plant in Pernambuco, evaluate commercial opportunities in decarbonization and low-carbon fuel projects in Brazil, and study the feasibility of a pilot project in offshore wind energy in the State of Rio Grande do Norte and Rio de Janeiro.
In addition, the company also aims to foster innovation by jointly developing a 7 megawatt (MW) onshore wind turbine with WEG, a Brazilian global electronics company, the first of this size to be built in Brazil. The company expects series production of this equipment to begin in 2025. The agreement covers the development of technologies to produce wind turbine components, suitable for Brazilian wind conditions, as well as the construction and testing of a prototype, with technical and commercial counterparts for the company.
The company and Riograndense Oil Refinery (‘RPR’) have achieved a historic milestone by processing, for the first time, 100% soybean oil in an industrial refining unit. The technology, developed at the Research, Development and Innovation Center of Petrobras (the ‘CENPES’), allows the company to convert 100% renewable feedstock, with innovations in process and catalyst, generating fully renewable products (petrochemical and fuels). This processing of 100% renewable feedstock in a Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit (the ‘FCC’) is the first of its kind in the world.
The test was made possible by a cooperation agreement signed in May 2023 between the RPR shareholder companies (Petrobras, Braskem, and Ultra), which provided the use of the refinery’s units for testing technologies developed by CENPES. The investment in the test was made in accordance with the PD&I clauses of the ANP.
The company also operates in the production of biodiesel through its wholly-owned subsidiary PBIO, which manages its activities for the production, logistics, and marketing of these products.
In November 2024, the company’s Executive Board approved the discontinuation of the divestment process of the wholly-owned subsidiary Petrobras Biocombustível S.A. (‘PBio’). PBio will remain in its portfolio, in line with its current strategic guidelines, which take into account its low-carbon businesses, profitable portfolio diversification, and ensuring operational continuity. Additionally, in alignment with its Strategic Plan, the company continues evaluating alternatives and business models for PBio, to be developed through partnerships aimed at enhancing its operations, considering new business opportunities, potential synergies between its assets, and the maximization of the results of Petrobras and its investees.
PBIO has three biodiesel plants for its own operations. However, the Quixadá biodiesel plant has been inoperative since November 2016. The company’s biodiesel production capacity in the other two plants in operation is 8.63 mbbl/d. In 2024, the company supplied 1.9% of Brazil’s biodiesel demand, according to the ANP.
CNPE is responsible for setting the mandatory blend of biodiesel in all diesel sold in Brazil. In March 2024, the mandatory blend increased from 12% to 14%.
Customers
Natural gas is marketed to 55 clients, most of which are distributors. The entire demand for natural gas includes the company’s non-thermoelectric, thermoelectric, refining, and fertilizer markets, as well as the consumption by natural-gas carriers contracted by the company for the provision of transportation services.
The company has 140 clients and suppliers, of which 31 are distributors, 30 are marketing companies, ten are generating companies, and 69 are free consumers. All contracts are registered at the Electricity Trading Chamber, a sector agent responsible for the settlement and accounting of these contracts.
Mergers and Acquisitions
In 2024, the company disclosed, signed, and completed the following projects:
The Cherne and Bagre fields, located in the shallow waters in the Campos basin, state of Rio de Janeiro. Completion of the sale is contingent upon customary regulatory approvals.
On May 29, 2024, the company completed the transfer of its entire interest (30%) held in Brentech Energia S.A.
On July 1, 2024, the company completed the transfer of its entire interest (18.8%) held in UEG Araucária (UEGA).
Gas market agreement
The TCC for the Gas Market (the ‘TCC Gas’) provided, among other commitments, the mandatory divestment of its entire equity stake in the companies Nova Transportadora do Sudeste S/A (NTS), Transportadora Associada de Gás S.A. - TAG, Transportadora Brasileira Gasoduto Bolivia-Brasil S.A - TBG, as well as its indirect equity stake in Petrobras Gás S.A. - GASPETRO.
Petrobras had been complying with the commitments agreed in TCC Gas, which was only pending the sale of company TBG, a divestment that faced obstacles during its execution.
According to the Material Fact disclosed on March 29, 2023, upon receipt of Official Letters 166/2023/GM-MME, 257/2023/GM-MME, and 261/2023/GM-MME from the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the company’s Board of Directors understood the need to assess the Ministry’s requests to review if the investments and divestments processes should be carried out based on the company’s new Strategic Plan proposed by the newly elected Executive Board.
Since the signing of TCC Gas, significant economic, legal, and regulatory changes have occurred in the domestic natural gas market to justify the need for Petrobras to re-assess the business model of the projects to be divested in the Natural Gas segment.
The New Gas Law, which came into effect after the TCC was signed, exempts companies that were already vertically integrated prior to its enactment, which applies to TBG, from the obligation to de-verticalize, so long as these companies comply with the independence and autonomy requirements to be regulated by the ANP.
The amendment was signed on July 3, 2024, and results from extensive debates between the technical areas of both Petrobras and CADE, culminating in the cessation of the obligation to sell TBG, within the scope of the TCC, and establishing new commitments, summarized as follows:
Adoption of additional safeguards for the election process of independent members to TBG’s Board of Directors.
Adoption of relevant independence (de facto) of TBG's Commercial Board in relation to Petrobras, removing any possible influence by Petrobras as its majority shareholder.
The terms agreed in the Amendment to TCC Gas will be valid until ANP issues a certificate of independence for TBG, or until March 4, 2039.
Research and Development
In 2024, the company expensed US$789 million in research and development.
Intellectual Properties
The company has 1,562 patent applications under review (698 in Brazil and 864 abroad), and 1,270 patents granted (686 in Brazil and 584 abroad), within 48 countries. In 2024, the company filed 352 patents: 174 abroad and 178 in Brazil, surpassing, for the fourth consecutive year, its record for filings in a single year.
History
Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras was founded in 1953. The company was incorporated in 1953.
